With Friends Like These I: Big Time Rivalry
by DarkElements10
Summary: 'First in WFLT triology' Big Time Rush has some competition in the music industry. The two bands don't want to be rivals, but their managers are pressuring them to it. What if they get into the friendly competition? Hilarious chaos and pranks ensues.
1. Big Time Rival Band

**Big Time Rivalry**

**By: Riley**

**.:****Chapter One – The Rival Band****:.**

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"HOW HARD IS IT FOR YOU GUYS TO LISTEN TO WHAT I AM TELLING YOU AND DOING IT RIGHT?"

Kendall, James, Logan, and Carlos winced at the loud scream that their music producer, Gustavo Rocque, emitted, after another dance lesson. Mr. X was standing in the corner, practically sobbing as he realized that he could never be able to teach the guys of Big Time Rush to ever be able to dance. He had quit choreographing them when he first met the boys, as they were pitiful. But Gustavo said that he would triple Mr. X's salary if he decided to try again. But right now, Mr. X didn't see why he even decided to agree with it. Apparently Gustavo agreed with him because his face had turned an ugly shade of red and he was now at risk of creating another earthquake.

"Really hard because you're pretty much blowing out our ear drums," Logan replied as he wiggled a finger in his ear.

"Quiet!" Gustavo snapped at him.

"Sorry, sir!" Logan squeaked and looked down at the floor.

"Gustavo," Kelly, his assistant, cut in as she held her arm out to keep the large man from bowling the young teens over. "Maybe you should explain to them why you're blowing up instead of yelling at them. We don't want another medical emergency do we?"

"Right, right," Gustavo waved his hand in the air, not really caring. "Listen, you have to be the best, and right now, you are sucking pretty well!"

"Why?" Kendall asked simply. Gustavo snapped his head over to the blonde boy and glared at him.

"Why…what?" he spat.

"Why do we have to be the best?" Kendall reiterated as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Because I was under the assumption that we were just making music for you to get money, you don't really think that we can make it anyway," he shrugged and continued. "So, I don't see why it has to make a difference whether or not we're good?"

Gustavo hesitated as his face started to turn red again. "Dude, calm down," James warned. "The shade of your face so does not go with what you're wearing."

"I still don't like you!" Gustavo snapped as he pointed at James in between the eyes. James nodded simply, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Got it." He replied with a nod.

"Come on guys, let's not get angry!" Carlos cried as he jumped into the conversation, lightly slapping the top of his hockey helmet in effect. "Now, at the risk of making you all even angrier, why don't we just figure out what's going on?"

"_I'll_ explain," Kelly replied pointedly as she ushered Gustavo over to a nearby chair and sat him down. "Gustavo is…worried, to put it lightly," she replied and the boys of Big Time Rush snorted in unison. Gustavo glared at them and then they coughed and cleared their throats, muttering agreements. "You see, the rival company of Rocque Records, Rolling Records, has made their own band and is trying to run you out."

"So?" Kendall snorted. "Why is that so bad?"

"It's bad," Gustavo's loud voice caused them to jump again. He surged up off of his chair and stormed over to the guys, facing them again. "Because they're taking what I'm doing, but doing it better! They're making a Pop-Rock band, who can play their own instruments, write their own songs, and can dance."

"And you think that this is going to hurt us because?" Logan asked as he shrugged, raising his eyebrows as he wasn't really sure how this pertained to them at all. James rolled his eyes as he shook his head.

'_And we call him the smart one?_' he thought to himself before speaking up. "This is a problem because that means that we might not be as famous as them." James' lower lip started to tremble as he got a determined look in his eye. "And if _we're_ not as famous as them, then _we're _not going to be famous! And if _we're_ not famous, then I won't be able to start my solo career and then move over into modeling and-"

"We get it." Carlos and Kendall harmonized.

"Right," James cleared his throat, looking sheepish. "Sorry."

"Well, we get it," Logan chimed in and then gave a charming smile. "We'll do better. Promise."

Gustavo looked at Logan and then burst out laughing. The boys looked at each other with confused expression on their faces. Still laughing, Gustavo walked in front of the line of boys and pointed at each of them in turn. He first pointed at Logan. "You are still horrible. Completely and utterly horrible."

"Yep." Logan agreed with a nod.

"And you," he moved over to James, who grinned eagerly. "Knock it off with the bright smile, it creeps everybody out!" James nodded and the smile instantly slid from his face. He moved over to Carlos, who nervously hit his helmet. "And you, what's up with the helmet?"

"It's like a safety for him," Kendall explained. "You know, some people hide behind their hair, Carlos hides behind a helmet."

"You're just weird," Gustavo concluded as he looked away from Carlos. He started to stride out of the studio. "All of you get out of my sight! I have some major butt kissing to do at Rolling Records!" he left the studio with Kelly hurrying after him, typing something into his cell phone.

"Cool, day off," Kendall rubbed his hands together eagerly, leading the boys out of the studio and towards the Palm Woods Hotel. "So what do you guys want to do now?"

"I'm thinking…we hit the pool." Logan replied after a second of thought.

"Then the pool it is," James agreed as he whipped a small comb out of his pocket and started to pull it through his hair. "I bet you that today I can make one of the Jennifer's notice me."

"You mean apart from the disgusted way they do now?" Carlos teased.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean." James replied and shoved Carlos' shoulder, sending him into Kendall, almost knocking the two of them over. "I bet I'll be able to get one of them out on a date."

"I have five dollars on the bet," Kendall declared as he laughed at his friend. "That you're going to crash and burn." He looked at Carlos and Logan. "Are you guys in?"

"Yep."

"Of course."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys." James muttered as he rolled his eyes.

The boys of Big Time Rush quickly went to their hotel rooms and got changed for the pool. As they reached the warmed area, Carlos went to talk to Guitar Dude, Kendall went and laid down on a beach chair, James went over to the Jennifers, and Logan was just walking around the pool deck, trying to decide if he wanted to have a drink before he swam, or go swimming before getting a drink.

"What with the possible swallowing of pool water, which will result in the possible dehydration, I think I'll go with the smoothie first," Logan said to himself and then walked over towards the smoothie bar. Getting distracted by two kids who ran by, screaming at the top of their lungs, Logan didn't notice a girl in front of him until he walked right into her, causing her to drop a book to the ground and fall onto her back. "Oh, I'm _so_ sorry." He cried.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?!" she snapped in disgust as she lifted herself up off of the ground, and brushed off the back of her pants.

"I-I was paying attention to where I was going." Logan stammered.

"That much is obvious!" the girl snapped back as she checked her hands and legs to make sure that she wasn't bleeding. "Do you ever walk much? It's not that hard!"

"I'm sorry."

"You already said that!"

Logan was taken aback by her harsh tone and he studied her. Black hair with a single purple streak, dark blue eyes, small frame, and from what he could see quickly, she had a scar in her eyebrow. When she looked up at him and glared, he could see little freckles on her cheeks. Logan looked down in his hand and held the black book out to her.

"Here, you dropped-"

"You didn't look in it, did you?" she demanded, looking more curious than angry now. She looked like she was going to punch him out if he did, so Logan was glad that he didn't even bother looking.

"No," he quickly shook his head. "I just saw it on the ground and picked it up." He held it out even further. "Here you go." He added.

"Thanks," the girl hesitated before taking it from him. "Uh," she looked annoyed. "Sorry about snapping at you. I've got a headache and those little kids aren't helping much." She added, gesturing to the screeching kids that just ran by.

"It's ok," Logan replied with a small smile.

"Well," she paused and nodded. "See ya."

Logan watched as she walked away before getting a smoothie and walking back over to his friends, who were looking at him with looks that held a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

"What?" Logan questioned as he sat down on an empty beach chair.

"So, who was that?" Kendall asked after a second of silence, a smug expression on his face. Logan looked over at him before replying.

"I don't know, I didn't get her name," he replied.

"Why?" James demanded as he slapped Logan's shoulder. "You had her eating out of the palm of your hand."

"One, Ow," Logan slapped James back on the leg. "And two, because knowing my luck with girls, she's just going to realize that I'm a nerdy math guy and not want to go out with me."

"Yeah, you're probably right." James agreed.

Logan made a face and looked at Kendall and Carlos, who had similar expressions of annoyance on their faces. At the same time, they reached out and shoved James into the pool.

"Thanks," Logan smiled and leaned back against his chair. "I feel better now."

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**So here's the first chapter. What did you guys think? I got the idea off of this when I saw the first two episodes and saw all of the people that were aspiring to be musicians/actors/singers in the Palm Woods hotel and thought, what would happen if Big Time Rush had a rival band? And that's where the story was born. I hope you guys liked it, I tried to keep their personalities the same to the show. Constructive Criticism is welcome. Thanks for reading.**

**Also, be sure to read my sister's BTR fic, Welcome to the Big Time.**


	2. Big Time Sneaking Around

**.:****Chapter Two – The Perfect Time to Sneak Around****:.**

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"Big Time Rush? What kind of a name is that?"

"What happened to the old' 'Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover' lesson you taught me, Riley?"

"I lied," 'Riley' replied with a smirk and tossed the magazine that she was reading aside. She and her band mates, who are also her brothers and sister, were sitting in the lobby of the Rolling Records building, waiting for their music producer/talent agent to get there. Rhuben, her twin, gave her a look as she rolled her eyes. "What? I'm just setting them up for life."

Riley Jackson, her twin, Rhuben, and their three brothers; twins Patrick and Noah, and youngest Sydney are a band that is trying to make it in America called, the DarkElements. Almost as soon as they had touched down in LA, they were recognized by Ronan McGuire, Music Prouder that worked at Rolling Records, and they got signed quickly. For one reason, it was because of their talent, the oldest ones of them being 16 and the youngest being eight. The other reason was because Rolling Records wanted to put out a pop group that could rival Rocque Records.

And apparently it was creating a big stir, because they had felt a series of mini earthquakes that morning.

"Do you really think that Big Time Rush isn't much competition?" Noah asked in his soft tone, which polarized Patrick's loud one, as he grabbed the magazine from the table and looked it over. "It says that they have really great singing voices and that they could be the next Nsync and Backstreet Boys."

"That really depends on how the fans perceive them and how much promotion they get." Sydney replied smartly. He was the smartest one out of all of them, even though he's the youngest, and likes to rub it in their faces. It gets pretty annoying after a while. He smiled so big that dimples appeared in his cheeks and his blue eyes sparkled.

All of the Jacksons share the trait of having black hair and blue eyes. But they each have different personalities, even the twins. Riley has a bossy personality, Rhuben has a cold one, Patrick has a loud, eccentric one, Noah has a shy one, and Sydney has a cute one.

To be told apart, Riley dyed a stand of her black hair red and it falls into her eyes, Rhuben has a strand of hers dyed purple. Patrick gels his hair up into a Mohawk with the tips dyed blonde, and Noah has his hair in his face with the tips dyed silver. Sydney keeps his hair in a shaggy messy style and the tips dyed aqua blue, to match his eyes.

Riley and Rhuben are sixteen, Patrick and Noah are thirteen, and Sydney is eight.

"When is Ronan supposed to get here?" Rhuben questioned as she looked at her watch. "We've been waiting for a long time."

"A half an hour, I would guess," Patrick replied with a sigh. He stood up and stretched. "We've been waiting long enough. Let's go sightseeing."

"But what about Ronan?" Noah questioned. Patrick rolled his eyes and waved a hand in the air impatiently. "Sorry, but I think it would be kind of rude if we ditched now."

"For all we know, he could be in a meeting," Patrick replied and then addressed the rest of his siblings. "C'mon, I'm bored, let's go do something fun." He looked over at Riley and stared when he saw a sly smile starting to form on her face. "You have that 'I-have-a-really-good-but-really-stupid-idea' look in your eye."

"What is it this time?" Rhuben asked as she turned her head to look at her twin.

Riley raised her eyebrows as she rubbed her hands together before leaning towards her siblings and talking a hushed tone. "Want to go check out our competition?"

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"So this is the Palm Wood?" Patrick asked as he looked around. "Seems kind of a stuffy place. I'm surprised that they just let us walk right in without asking if we're actually staying here."

"That's probably because they saw that we're young and think that we're actors or something," Noah commented as they looked around the lobby. "I mean, there is a lot of kids and teens around here."

"Let's check out the pool!" Sydney cried eagerly as he pointed in the direction of some hotel guests in bathing suits.

"We're here to find out about our competition, remember?" Riley replied pointedly. Sydney latched onto her arm and looked up at him with big eyes, knowing that she couldn't resist them.

"Oh come on, Ri-Ri," he whined, using her pet name. "We're just going to see if their hotel pool is better than ours." He paused. "_Then_ we can continue with our snooping."

"I prefer to call it sneaking," Riley replied.

"Yeah, because the last time dad caught you eavesdropping, he said that he would ground you and take away your guitar," Rhuben rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "And we all know how bad _that_ would be." She added sarcastically.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Riley snapped in reply and then slapped the book that was in Rhuben's hand. "And what's this for?"

"You never know when you're going to find inspiration for a new song," Rhuben replied and stuck out her tongue. "Miss. I-have-calluses-on-all-of-my-fingers."

"Hey, just because you can't play the guitar doesn't mean-"

"Knock it off!" Patrick jumped between the two of them and then pushed them towards the pool. "We're supposed to be having fun, trying to keep from being bored, not arguing."

"Right," Rhuben deadpanned and looked around at the pool that they had. "This pool is kinda small don't ya think?" she waited for a response and then looked around when she realized that what she got instead was silence. "Guys?" she looked up and saw Patrick and Noah over by the hot tub, trying to decide whether or not they should do a classic prank on the people inside. (Rhuben could only tell from the evil looks on their faces). Riley was talking to some dude that was playing the guitar (figures), and Sydney was…nowhere to be found.

Rhuben groaned and rubbed her forehead before going off to look for him. Her head was turned, silently searching the beach chairs for him when she felt something run into her, sending her to the ground. Cursing to herself, Rhuben looked up to see a guy standing in front f her, looking shocked.

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry." He cried.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?!" she snapped in disgust as she lifted herself up off of the ground, brushing off the back of her pants, ignoring the sting.

"I-I was paying attention to where I was going." The guy stammered, as if he was afraid that she was going to hurt him.

"That much is obvious!" Rhuben snapped back as she checked her hands and legs to make sure that she wasn't bleeding. She had a few scrapes, but other than that, everything was fine. She turned her furious gaze back up to the guy. He had dark hair, brown eyes…and if he wasn't so scared at that moment, Rhuben would have thought that he looked kind of cute. Actually, he looked kind of familiar. "Do you ever walk much? It's not that hard!"

"I'm sorry." The guy said again.

Rhuben studied him in annoyance before sighing and placing her hands on her hips, already tired of the conversation. It wasn't that she didn't like the guy; she didn't know him at all, but the way that he was apologizing over and over was really starting to get to her.

"You already said that!" she pointed out.

The guy looked taken aback by her harsh tone and he studied her for a second before noticing something on the ground and bending over to pick it up. He held it out to her, hesitantly.

"Here, you dropped-"Rhuben cut him off

"You didn't look in it, did you?" She demanded, looking more curious than angry. She would hate it if someone had looked into her lyrics notebook, especially if there was a possibility that her lyrics could be stolen.

"No," the guy quickly shook his head. "I just saw it on the ground and picked it up." He held it out even further. "Here you go." He added.

"Thanks," Rhuben hesitated before taking it from him. "Uh," she looked annoyed. "Sorry about snapping at you." She rubbed her forehead and made up an excuse. "I've got a headache and those little kids aren't helping much." She added, gesturing to the screeching kids that just ran by.

"It's ok," the guy replied with a small smile.

"Well," Rhuben paused and nodded. "See ya." She walked around him, clutching her notebook in her hands and went over to her brothers. "Don't even think about it," she warned as she grabbed Patrick's shoulder, keeping him from dropping something into the hot tub. "What is that?"

"Food coloring," Patrick replied simply. Rhuben cleared her throat and held out her hand. Noah sighed and slapped it into her palm.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Smoothie stand," Patrick replied smugly. "Sydney snuck it to me while the guy was getting him a smoothie."

"You know, there's a reason you're labeled the dumb one." Rhuben commented after a second of silence as she looked around again. She turned back to Patrick and Noah, who were grinning at her. "What?" she asked coolly, not liking the look on their faces.

"So, who was that guy that you were talking to?" Noah asked.

"You mean, who was that guy she was threatening." Patrick corrected and Noah nodded in agreement.

"I don't know," Rhuben shrugged and then paused. "One of the guys from Big Time Rush, I think." She replied. She motioned for Patrick and Noah to follow her as she turned and started to walk back to Riley and Sydney. "Actually, I'm positive that it was."

"So, did you figure out anything about their band?" Patrick asked as he stopped her and stared at her. The two of them were about the same height 5"3, which Rhuben hated as she was older but he was getting taller. He grinned. "Or were you just flirting with him?"

Wordlessly, Rhuben reached a hand out, lightly shoved his chest, and watched as Patrick fell into the pool. Noah held out a hand to help him out.

"I think that answered you question."

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**A/N: Be sure to read my sister's BTR fic, Welcome to the Big Time.**


	3. Big Time Management Problems

**.:****Chapter Three – Big Time (Management) Problems****:.**

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"Hey we're back!" Rhuben called as she and her brothers and sister walked back into the lobby of Rolling Records. They stopped short when they saw their father standing with their music producer, and he looked anything but happy. In fact, he looked downright pissed off, something that the Jacksons were used to and completely afraid of. "What's up?" she asked shakily.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Noah asked in his soft voice, taking a step behind Patrick. "You look like you just lost a lot of money." He added with a small chuckle, the smile from his face fading quickly.

Patrick is the more dominant twin out of them, and usually makes sure that Noah and Sydney don't get picked on by anyone. Back when they were in school, Patrick got into a lot of fights, defending Noah from bullies. Sydney was always there to back him up, even though he was usually kept out of the fights.

"Where have you been?" Robert Jackson, their father snapped as soon as they got closer to him.

"Calm down, Robert." Ronan McGuire, their music producer chided with an easy going smile. "It's partly my fault that they wandered off, my meeting went on longer than I expected." He looked at his watch. "We'll be starting your dance session in a few minutes, so just head on over to the studio and the choreographer will be there soon."

"Ok," the Jacksons agreed, glancing over at their father before slowly walking away from the front desk. Ronan smiled and went to his office. As she walked by, Robert grabbed onto Rhuben's arm and dragged her back a little bit. When he was sure that no one was around, he slapped her across the face, causing her head to snap to the side.

She made a face of pain as she slowly moved her head back the other way to face him, her blue eyes glaring in defiance.

"Next time don't be late, or you're going to hurt even worse." He growled as he tightened his grip on her arm. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes, _sir_." Rhuben muttered in reply and pulled her arm away from her father's grasp, rubbing her arm as a bruise started to form.

"And, tomorrow, you guys have a photo shoot." Robert continued as he followed his kids to the elevator. "That means that you have to work hard today and listen to everything that I tell you, so you'll be well rested by the photo shoot and interview tomorrow."

"What's the interview about?" Riley grumbled as they entered the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. As soon as the doors closed, Robert whipped around, backhanding her across the face. "OW!" she cried, stumbling back into her Patrick, who steadied her before they both went down. Noah moved over to Rhuben, and Sydney made a whimpering sound. "What did you do that for?"

"Don't ask dumb questions," Robert replied with a sneer. "It's no wonder your parents were stupid enough to get killed." He mumbled under his breath.

"Don't talk about my parents like that." Patrick growled and ducked as Robert aimed a punch at his forehead, causing him to leave a dent in the metal frame of the elevator.

"God Dammit!" Robert cursed as he shook out his hand. "You're going to pay for that later," he muttered as the door slid open. "All of you."

With that, he strode out of the elevator, leaving his sons and daughters in his wake, slowly following behind him.

They were making sure they kept their distance, just so they wouldn't get hurt even more. When they entered the dance studio, Robert muttered something to their choreographer, who looked confused, but then shrugged and left the room.

"Today, I'm going to be watching you," Robert said gruffly. "You're going to do the routine to your song 'All for Love' and if you mess up," he added in a warning tone as his kids sat down and started to stretch. He waited until he was sure that all of them were looking at him before continuing. "And if you mess up, you're going to try again and you're not going to leave until you get it right. Got me?"

"Yes, sir."

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-**The Next Day**-

"Hey Katie, check this out, there's another commercial that you can try out for." Kendall pointed out as he shoved a newspaper towards his ten-year-old sister. Katie picked up the newspaper and briefly glanced over the newspaper, making a face as her brother ate his cereal loudly.

"Hey garbage disposal, can't you eat a little quieter?" she snapped, slapping down the newspaper. Kendall looked over at her, an annoyed expression on his face that melted into a smug smile.

"You're lucky that I'm the one that's eating breakfast with you," he replied before swallowing thickly. "Because if it was Carlos, you'd be grossed out."

"That's a good point," Katie sighed in reply. "Anyway, this is a commercial for deodorant and they need someone to play a lacrosse girl." She explained pointedly. Kendall shrugged.

"So?"

"So," Katie rolled her eyes. "Remember what happened the _last_ time I played lacrosse?"

"_You're going __down__, shrimp!" a pigtailed girl, Katie's age, but at least a half-foot taller, taunted as the two faced each other on the lacrosse field._

"_Shrimp?" Katie repeated in an offended tone and then narrowed her eyes dangerously. "I'll show you a shrimp." She bent down low, waiting for the referee to run over to them._

"_Alright, the halves last ten minutes each," the referee called as he placed the ball onto the ground and Katie and the other girl crouched low, waiting for the whistle so they could go after the ball. "Let's have some good, clean, fun alright?'_

_The two girls nodded, glaring at each other through their face masks. They waited until the referee blew the whistle and then sprung into action. As the pig-tailed girl went for the ball, Katie stood up and brought her lacrosse stick back behind him, and then swung it forward with all of her might, hitting the girl in the face._

"_Oh, ya want some more of that?" Katie shouted as she looked down at the girl. "Huh? Who's the shrimp now?"_

"Oh yeah," Kendall winced at the thought. "Three stitches in the side of the head." He shook his head in dismay. "Probably the fastest that you ever got kicked out a sport." He cleared his throat. "But this is an audition; you're not actually going to play. Where's mom?"

"Grocery shopping," Katie replied. "You and the rest of your merry band of bozos have eaten practically everything in sight."

"You mean our _boy band_ of bozos." Kendall corrected.

"Don't do that."

"Sorry."

"Kendall!" Carlos shouted as he, James, and Logan burst through the door of their apartment. "Kendall, come on, you _have_ to check this out!"

"What's going on?" Katie questioned innocently. The look on Carlos' face changed to one of extreme discomfort and he looked back and forth between the Knight siblings, trying to figure out what he should say. Katie rolled her eyes. "This has something to do with how hot the Jennifers are, go ahead and talk about it. It doesn't bother me." She stood up and put her cereal bowl in the sink. "It just shows how shallow you guys are." She turned and shoved by her brother and his friends. "I'm going to hang out with Tyler."

"She's right though," Logan commented as soon as she left.

"What, that it has to do with how hot the Jennifers are?" James asked as he turned to look at the smart one.

"No, that it shows how shallow we are."

"And no one cares," Kendall interrupted and turned to Carlos. "What's going on? I need to know so I can find a way to make Jennifer 2 go out with me."

"Ok, so we were sitting by the pool and-"

"HEY, DOGS!"

The boys of Big Time Rush flinched and didn't have much of a change to move before Gustavo came barreling through the front door of the apartment, knocking all four of them to the floor.

"Sorry guys," Kelly apologized, still holding onto a palm pilot. Actually, no one's ever seen her without the palm pilot in her hands. She waited until all four guys pulled themselves up off of the ground before continuing. "Gustavo is a _little_ upset today. You see, the manager of your rival band came to pay him a visit."

"So?"

"So, that made Gustavo upset." Kelly replied as if it was obvious. "You see, Gustavo and Robert Jackson, the other manager, are rivals in the music industry, and have been for years. They always try to outdo each other. Because of this, they want your bands to be rivals. Meaning that whatever they do, you're going to have to do ten-fold."

"That's right!" Gustavo barked and moved over to Big Time Rush, taking off his sunglasses and glaring at his new client. "We know that you're going to run into them eventually, so that means that you can't talk to them, or have any interaction with them at all!"

"Isn't that going a little bit over the top?" Logan asked.

"NO! IT'S NOT!" Gustavo shouted in reply. "They have a photo shoot this afternoon for Popstar magazine, and as of now, so do you! Now let's head out and go to the…studio…where they're going to shoot that thing!"

"Well, can't we just go down to the pool first?" James asked as he pointed behind him, looking sad. "The Jennifers are there and we want to-"

"Now!" Gustavo shouted.

"Well, are we going to take a limo?" Carlos asked hopefully.

"GO! NOW! GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!"

The boys of Big Time Rush let out cries of protests as they were forcibly shoved out of the apartment and out to the limo that was waiting for them. It wasn't until they were on their way to the photo shoot that they started to get excited.

"Our first photo shoot," James gushed. "I can't believe it! I've waited _so long_ for this to happen."

"We know" Kendall, Logan, and Carlos stated in unison.

"It was all you ever talked about when we weren't playing pranks or playing hockey." Kendall replied and then paused. "Sorry I mean, whenever we weren't playing pranks, Logan wasn't trying to talk us out of it, or playing hockey."

"Well, _excuse me_ for having a dream." James pretended to be offended. He looked out the window and did a double take before pressing his face against the glass. "Oh my god, was that Lindsay Lohan?"

Kendall, Logan, and Carlos joined him at the window, all pressing their faces against the window, making some grotesque faces in the process. Kelly shook her head and flipped her sunglasses over her nose, wanting to stay out of the confrontation that was bound to happen.

"Dogs! Down! Now!" Gustavo snapped and pointed towards the seat that they were sitting in. For a few moments, Big Time Rush hovered over the seats as if they were trying to lay an egg, before doing as they were told.

"It probably wasn't Lindsay anyway," Carlos muttered and then James shoved his shoulder, causing his head to hit the window. Kendall and Logan burst out laughing as Carlos rubbed the large bump that had formed and glared at Gustavo.

"You see if I could wear my helmet, that wouldn't have happened!" he snapped.

Gustavo ignored him and they all fell into an uncomfortable silence, praying that they would get to the photo shoot soon. Their prayers seemed to have been answered because they hit all green lights on the way to the way there. As soon as Big Time Rush got out of the limo, they looked around at the building and looked somewhat disappointed.

"It's an office building for Popstar magazine," Kelly explained, breezily walking by her, her high heels making clacking sounds on the sidewalk. "Don't look so worried. The shoot is on the third floor and you guys have an interview afterwards." She looked up from her palm pilot. "It's going to take at least an hour for the photo shoot because they're going to have you in different clothes and settings, but if you're hungry there's a food table." She stopped and turned to face them. "Of, that reminds me, do you have any food preferences?"

"Yeah, I like-"

"Who cares?" Gustavo shouted, waking by them impatiently, effectively cutting off Logan. "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

"If he calls us dogs one more time, I'm not going to be held accountable for my actions," Kendall muttered to Kelly as he followed them.

"I know," Kelly sighed in reply. "I'm working on it."

Entering the large office that was going to be used for their photo shoot, Gustavo stopped short, causing everyone else to crash into him. Looking up they saw a tall man walking over to them, a smile on his face and holding a hand out.

"Gustavo Rocque, it's nice to see you again." He said.

"You too, Robert." Gustavo replied, pointedly ignoring the offered hand. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh," Robert's smile grew wider. But up close the smile looked more malicious than intended, making Robert seem extremely intimidating. "My kids just finished their photo shoot." He took a step closer to Gustavo. "You know my kids, right? The new pop-rock band that's going to be big all over the world, rather than just Australia?" he looked over his shoulder. "Hey kids come over here, there's someone I want you to meet."

Big Time Rush watched as two girls and three boys walked out of the bathrooms that were in the office and walked over to them. Big Time Rush stared, noticing that they all had black hair and the same shade of blue eyes that seemed to be piercing into their souls.

Logan did a double take as he looked over at one of the girls. She noticed and a smirk appeared on her face as she pointed at him.

"Hey," She greeted upon recognition. "guy-who-ran-into-me-at-the-pool." Logan raised a hand and smiled, but didn't say anything. He was always shy around girls and wasn't sure what he was going to say…especially since their very scary father was there.

"And lived?" her twin asked in a joking tone. "Gee, that's a shock."

"Enough," Robert replied as he looked at the two of them and they simply fell silent. "Gustavo, these are my kids, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney Jackson. Also known as the DarkElements, the band that yours is going up against."

"Going up against for what?" Sydney asked innocently, his nose wrinkled in confusion.

"Don't worry about it, son" Robert dismissed quickly.

"Well, let me introduce you to _my guys_," Gustavo said in a challenging tone. He hesitated for a second, as if he forgot their names and then hurriedly continued. "Kendall, Carlos, James, and Logan."

"Also known as Big Time Rush," Riley replied as she pushed her strand of red hair out of her face, folding her arms over her chest. "We know. Dad talks about you a lot." She added and then looked away when her father looked at her sternly.

Kendall frowned when he noticed the exchange, but didn't say anything.

"So, Gustavo, what do you think about your boys?" Robert asked in a cool tone as he quickly scanned over them. "How are they doing with their music?"

"Oh, they're doing great," Gustavo boasted. "They're already doing some performances in malls and stuff, the girls love em'."

"They do?" Carlos questioned and Gustavo turned and glared at him. Robert chuckled, rubbing his neck.

"That's good to hear," he commented. "Listen, we have to go and practice some more, we have to shoot a music video tomorrow." Robert explained. "You know, getting our music out to everybody. But we'll see you later. How about we go to dinner? You know, just to catch up on things."

"Fine, as long as you're paying." Gustavo replied.

"Of course," Robert smirked and then it faded as he turned to his kids. "Come on." He commanded and led them out of the office. Gustavo and Big Time Rush watched them go, different expressions on their faces.

"Well, what are you all standing around for?" Gustavo demanded, looking even more angry than usual. "Get over there, they're waiting for you!"

"I don't think I've ever seen Gustavo look so mad," Logan muttered under his breath.

"He's not mad yet," Kendall replied dryly. "There hasn't been another earthquake, yet."

* * *

**A/N: I wanted this story to have a lot of many genres, humor, action/adventure, drama, friendship, family, hurt/comfort, and romance. And it's all going to be in this story; we're already started with the humor and the friendship. Everything else is going to come soon. I hope you guys are enjoying this story. First few chapters of this story are short, but they'll get longer. Next chapter has to do with the bands talking a little bit more and more background on the Jacksons. If you haven't seen it yet, please check out my one-shot 'What Happened in the Supply Closet'. Thanks.**

**Also, be sure to read my sister's BTR fic, Welcome to the Big Time.**

**-DarkElements10**


	4. Big Time Dinner Disaster

**.:Chapter Four – Big Time Dinner Disaster:.**

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"I'm telling you, this is a very bad idea," Logan stated as he, James, Kendall, Carlos, Kelly, Gustavo, Mrs. Knight, and Katie walked to the restaurant that Robert and his kids were going to meet them at. "I predict a 100% chance that this is going to go all wrong. Big Time."

"You're just being pessimistic," James stated as he rolled his eyes. "Besides, we're getting a _free_ dinner in an expensive, Hollywood restaurant."

"That's right!" Gustavo practically shouted as he shoved his fist into the air. "So that means that you should order anything you want, no matter how expensive it is. The other guy is going to pay for it."

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that Gustavo was rivals with that guy," Katie commented to her brother. She walked walking behind the boys, holding onto her mother's hand. "I bet Gustavo hates him even more than he hates you."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Kendall replied as he shook his head. But a smile was on his face. "But as long as his wrath is pointed towards someone else, we can actually have a bit of fun while we're here."

"Let's go sightseeing, tomorrow," Carlos suggested. "Ever since we got here, we haven't really been able to see what goes on in Hollywood." He grinned. "Maybe we can go and see the walk of fame."

"You're going to have to take Katie with you," Mrs. Knight stated, causing the four boys to stop and look at her with expressions of disbelief.

"What?" Kendall cried. "Why?"

"Because I'm going job hunting tomorrow and she can't stay by herself." Mrs. Knight replied with a raised eyebrow as she looked at the four of them. "And I'm pretty sure that all of you are going to take good care of her."

"Yeah, I guess." Kendall muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. Mrs. Knight looked at him sternly and he threw his arms into the air. "But mom, we're in LA, why do I _still_ have to let her follow me around! I mean, I'm sixteen for god's sake, don't I get to hang around without her all the time?"

"Mom, I don't want to be babysat by _them_," Katie replied and wrinkled her nose. "They're just going to do something extremely stupid and get me in trouble!"

"You two are going to have to deal with it." Mrs. Knight said finally.

"We're here!" Gustavo shouted, causing everyone to jump. He turned around and smiled an evil glint in his eye…well, from what they could see as Gustavo is still wearing sunglasses. "Now, remember what I said, order anything expensive."

"I'm _so_ going to love this," Carlos declared as he rubbed his hands together, following everybody inside. "What should I get? Lobster or just a bunch of little things."

"Carlos, buddy," James put his arm around Carlo's shoulder. "You're going to have a lot of chances to order expensive things from restaurants, we're in Hollywood now, and eventually, we're going to live it right."

"Hey, over here!"

Gustavo made a grunting sound and waved a hand to the others, letting them know to follow him. A sneer appeared on his face for a half a second, and then it changed into a forced smile as he walked over to Robert.

"It was nice for you to let all of us come," Mrs. Knight smiled as she sat down in her chair. Frowning a little, she nudged Katie, who blinked and then gave a smile.

"Yeah, it's the first time that I've ever eaten in a place like this!" she agreed.

"The novelty will wear off," Patrick spoke up as he rolled his eyes a little bit. He leaned forward and placed a hand by his mouth. "Celebrities come here all the time, and we pretend that we don't know who they are so they don't bug us." He added in a stage whisper, causing his siblings to laugh. "I'm Patrick." He pointed to the guy next to him. "That's my twin, Noah."

"I'm Sydney." The small boy on the other side replied. He pointed across from him. "And that's Riley and Rhuben."

"I'm Katie. Nice to meet you." Katie replied with a nod. "Do celebrities come here all the time? Like, Johnny Depp for example?"

"Depends on what time of year it is," Noah replied in his soft voice. "But this is usually a restaurant for Musicians. I mean Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers were here a couple of weeks ago."

"Cool."

As the younger kids were having a light-hearted conversation at their part of the table, and the adults were having a semi-awkward conversation at their part, the teenagers were stuck in silence, not sure what to say to each other, as they were, technically, supposed to be rivals to each other.

"So, uh, do you guys do anything besides music?" James asked, trying to break the silence. "Like, what do you do for fun?"

"We got the beach a lot," Riley spoke up, messing around with a fork, flipping it through her fingers. She set it down and looked over at him. "Surf, make sandcastles, eat, but then again, we don't really get a lot of free time as there's always something for us to do."

"Don't get her wrong, being in a band is fun," Rhuben cut into the conversation, quickly shooting a look towards her older twin sister. "But there's always a time where you just want to stop working and be a teenager, ya know?"

"But don't worry, I'm sure the great Gustavo Rocque wouldn't push you that hard," Riley sympathized with a bit of sarcasm. "I mean, what are your schedules like?"

"When we're not in school, we're working." Kendall replied. "It's not that bad, really." He smiled. "I mean, I don't think that I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life, but if I'm with my friends now, why not?"

Logan, Carlos, and James smiled at him, and gave each other high-fives. Riley looked towards her sister, who slightly widened her eyes in reply, and then smirked. Riley smirked back and then turned to the guys.

"So, what were you guys doing before you came out to LA?" she asked innocently.

"I _wanted_ to be a doctor," Logan replied sounding wistful. "But I got to admit that this is really cool too."

"We were just a bunch of hockey players in Minnesota," James replied, sounding sheepish. "But this has always been my dream so I'm glad that it's coming true."

"Hockey players, huh?" Rhuben raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you wanted to do before?"

"That's Kendall's dream, actually," Carlos replied as he lightly nudged his friend. "Every day he would go around saying- ICE CREAM!" he shouted the word as he noticed a waiter walking by with a large bowl filled with an ice cream sundae.

"Ignore him," Kendall rolled his eyes. "We think he was dropped on his head when he was a child."

"That would explain the helmet." Riley replied simply. "Anyway, you wanted to be a hockey player? Like, professional?"

"Yeah." Kendall nodded.

"So you wanted to be someone who probably would have bad knees for the rest of his life and missing all his teeth?" she asked the questioned slowly, as if she was purposely trying to get a reaction out of him. Kendall opened his mouth to reply, but Robert cut him off.

"Be nice to our guests," he warned. "You don't want them to think that you're a rude person."

"Why not?" Patrick cracked. "It's true." Riley glared at him and he smiled sweetly in reply. "She has a bad temper." He replied.

"So, we told you about us," Logan changed the subject quickly. Being smart, he felt the tension in the air and wanted to change the subject to a more lighthearted one. "What about you? How did you get started?"

"To be technical, it was from our older brother, Julius." Rhuben replied and looked up as a waiter walked over with a few platters of appetizers. Seeing the annoyed look on Gustavo's face, Robert spoke up with a grin.

"I thought that it would be nice to order some appetizers," he explained. "You know, just so we can make our new friends," he looked over at Katie, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James before his eyes rested on Mrs. Knight. "Feel welcome."

"That's nice of you," Kelly replied with a smile. She turned to Gustavo and nudged him. "Wasn't that nice?" Gustavo looked over at her with raised eyebrows and she narrowed her eyes in reply. Silently telling him to get along.

Gustavo cleared his throat and mumbled something before speaking up. "Yeah, that was…_nice_…if you like that sort of thing."

"I don't think I've ever seen Gustavo so annoyed." Katie laughed.

"Just wait," Patrick rolled his eyes. "If this dinner goes on for much longer, we're probably going to have to call the police."

"As I was saying," Rhuben turned back to Big Time Rush. "Our oldest brother, Julius, who is in college right now, was the one that got us into being a band." She looked sad about something. "He used to play the guitar and drums lot and Riley and I always watched." She chuckled. "It must have annoyed him because he ended up teaching us how to play. Eventually, Patrick and Noah wanted to play too so Riley taught him how to play the guitar, before he picked up the bass, and then Noah learned how to play the drums too."

Riley jumped in to continue the story. "So for a while it was the five of us that played in a band for a while, and dad noticed how much we liked music so he went around trying to get us record deals. At first we did a bunch of kids' songs, and then we moved into our own genre of music. But as we got older, Julius decided that he didn't want to be in the band anymore, and we put Sydney into it and that's pretty much where we are now."

"We moved from our home in Australia to LA about two years ago and have been here ever since." Rhuben concluded. "Unfortunately, until this year we haven't really had much luck with our music. But, it's starting to go well. We're opening for a small festival tomorrow."

"That's cool." James nodded in reply.

"You said you were from Australia, right?" Logan questioned and the girls nodded. "That explains your accent then. But if you moved only two years ago, then wouldn't your accent still be strong?"

"It depends on our mood," Riley replied. "There are times where I want to sound American," she said the last sentence in an almost complete American accent. "And sometimes we get homesick and speak like we used to." She finished in a thick Australian accent.

"What annoys me, though, is when people think I'm British, because they can't tell the difference between the two." She turned to James, who looked sheepish about something. "You were just thinking that, weren't you?"

"Me?" he looked shocked. "No! No, no, I can tell the difference."

"I'm sure you can."

Kendall frowned, not liking the tone that the two girls were using with his friends. It was as if they were silently putting them down, as if they didn't think that they were even worthy of being there. He opened his mouth to say something, but was once again cut off as the waiter appeared to take their orders.

"Is it just me or are your brother and my sisters not getting along?" Noah asked as he looked down the table at the group of older teenagers.

"You're the smart one," Patrick replied with a shrug. "You're probably right."

"But that doesn't make sense," Katie wrinkled her nose in thought. "Kendall makes friends with practically everybody he meets."

"Yeah, betcha he hasn't made friends with anyone like Ri-Ri and Rhu-Rhu before." Sydney replied as he reached across the table and grabbed a large shrimp before Patrick could get it. "They don't make friends easily and can actually make people hate them at first."

"Then I can see how that could be a problem." Katie replied and then smiled smugly. "But don't worry, I bet we can find a way to make them friends."

"We?" Noah raised his eyebrows.

"Of course," Katie replied. "I definitely can't do this on my own if you know your sisters really well." She explained. "Besides, I heard the guys talking and they said that they don't actually want to be rivals with you guys." She nodded over to Gustavo and Robert. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was just them that were making everything happen."

"I wouldn't disagree." Patrick replied. "But what's it going to do if they all become friends. It's not going to help if our managers are still arguing."

"We'll worry about that then," Katie replied confidently. "Trust me; I know what I'm doing."

"So, I'm assuming that you're the one that always playing pranks on people?" Sydney asked and then turned to the waiter as he walked beside him. "I'd like the….lobster tails with a side of mashed potatoes and a large chocolate-banana milkshake." He smiled so wide that dimples appeared in his cheeks. "Thank you!" he handed his menu to the waiter.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Katie replied with a smug smile, a glint of pride in her eyes.

"Well, that's what we do best," Noah replied with a smirk. "We'll think of something to force them together.

After ordering, there was another round of uncomfortable silence, and Robert spoke up. His children could see a mischievous glint in his eye and knew that something was about to happen.

"So what were your record sales last year?" Robert asked as he took a sip of his red wine. "I mean, I haven't really heard a hit from a band that _you've_ managed in a while."

"For your information, I _have_ had a hit in the past few years!" Gustavo replied loudly as he pointed at Robert in-between the eyes. "_Girl to My Heart!_ That's my recent one!"

"I thought it was a really good one, too." Mrs. Knight smiled, trying to keep the peace between the two managers. They ignored her and continued with the conversation.

"From what?" Robert snorted. "_Nine_ years ago? My daughters were seven when that song was a hit." Kelly rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead, knowing that nothing that was going to be said could stop the two of them.

"Oh and how old were you?" Gustavo clenched his hands into fists, his face slowly turning beet red. "Forty-One?"

"I'm Thirty-Two actually," Robert smirked and tilted his head to the side. "Two years younger than you are." At this point, everybody was staring as they shot insults back and forth to each other.

"What are you saying?" he demanded through clenched teeth.

Robert leaned forward and smiled. "You're old." Gustavo grabbed the platter of shrimp and started to toss them at Robert's face. Robert flinched and glared before grabbing the platter of meat balls and throwing them back.

"Oh no" Riley covered her face with her hands and rubbed her eyes.

"Not again." Rhuben added.

"What, you mean they've done this before?" Kendall asked as he used his plate to block his face from a flying meatball. Carlos grabbed it out of midair and shoved it into his mouth.

"Guess no one's mentioned," Riley replied. "They used to be partners, but then Dad decided to become our manager and that split his duties, blah, blah, blah, and here we are."

"This is probably the fifth restaurant that we've been, or are going to be, kicked out of." Rhuben replied with a sigh. "Just you wait."

"Stop it!" Kelly cried loudly to the two grown men. "You two are acting like children!"

Customers ducked out of the way as meatballs and shrimp went flying all over the restaurant. One hit a lady square in the forehead, and another hit their waiter in the face, causing him to stumble and drop their food all over Big Time Rush, the DarkElements, Katie, and the adults that were with them.

"This is embarrassing." Rhuben sighed.

"Big Time." Riley added.

"Our first fancy dinner in LA and it ends like this?" James questioned as he wiped food off of his clothes.

"I know, isn't it awesome!?" Carlos replied excitedly.

* * *

**Ok, as you can already tell with this story that the Jacksons get abused. Don't worry, that's not the basis of the whole story, it's going to, eventually, turn towards a more humorous side. I've already got the whole story planned out and I'm already thinking of a sequel that I know you're going to love. I'm glad that you like the story so far, though. Thanks for reading.**

**Also, be sure to read my sister's BTR fic, Welcome to the Big Time.**


	5. Big Time Hard Work

**.:****Chapter Five – Big Time Hard Work****:.**

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"Ugh, I can't believe I _still_ smell like shrimp." Kendall moaned as he and his friends rode down the elevator the next morning. They were on their way to another practice session with Gustavo and they definitely weren't excited about it. Even if they were going to be working on new dance moves, something that they enjoyed about the whole boy band experience. "My mom had a fit with all of the washing that she has to do now."

"You think _you_ have problems?" Katie asked from where she was leaning against the side of the elevator. "I have to go to an audition with marinara sauce still stuck in my hair!" she gently ran her fingers over the up do that she had to put in at the last minute. "Mom says I might have to cut it. Do you know how long it's going to take to grow back?"

"Are you _purposely_ trying to sound like James?" Carlos asked. James rolled his eyes and shoved Carlos into the floor panel. "Dude!" Carlos looked at James, smacked his helmet, and got ready to tackle his friend, but Kendall moved in-between the two and held a hand against Carlos' helmet, effectively keeping Carlos at arm's length away from James.

"I told you that going to dinner was going to be a bad idea," Logan stated as she shoved his hands into his pockets, looking smug. "But did anyone listen to me?" he didn't wait for anyone to answer the question. "No, they never do."

"I'm sorry, did you hear something?" James cupped his ear and turned to Kendall and Carlos with an innocent expression on his face.

"No, I didn't hear anything." Kendall agreed with a mischievous smile.

"Ha, ha, very original. Make fun of the smart guy." Logan stated, rolling his eyes, as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the Palm Woods lobby. Before they could do anything, Kendall cried out in pain as he was slapped on the cheek.

Not entirely surprised, he rubbed the sore spot as he turned to face Camille, the Palm Woods' resident drama actress. Before she could open her mouth to scream out whatever monologue that she was working on, the boys cut her off.

"Camille!" they shouted in unison.

"What?" she calmed down and looked at them with an innocent expression on her face.

"Not today," James groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "We had a bad night last night, and with all of the yelling that Gustavo is going to do, we don't need the theatrics."

"Oh, sorry." Camille smiled in reply. "But you guys should get a break today anyway, word around the Palm Woods is that Gustavo Rocque has holed himself up into his apartment and isn't going to be working today."

"Yes! Day off!" Carlos cheered and high-fived Logan.

"Not quite," Kelly interjected as she walked up to the four boys, who now looked crestfallen. "Gustavo may not be up to participating in your guys' harmony and dance practice, but that doesn't mean that the rest of us don't want to see you improve." She looked at her palm pilot. "First thing is dance practice; you have to lay down a new routine."

"For which song? Big Time Rush or The City is Ours?" Kendall asked in reply. "Because I think that we need to work on both of them."

"For Big Time rush," Kelly replied with a nod as she glanced at her palm pilot. "We'll work on The City Is Ours after you guys release Big Time Rush as a single." She heard the groans from the four boys and rolled her eyes, holding her hands up defensively. "Don't shot the messenger. Gustavo wants you guys to be perfect with your first song before you continue with the next one."

"But we have that concert at the mall coming up soon," James pointed out. "I think it would be better if we actually continued with our second song."

"Hello!" Katie called, getting everybody's attention as she moved to stand beside Kelly. She threw her arms into the air, looking appalled. "You're a new boy band, in LA, who's going to be famous! Stop complaining and just do it!" she rolled her eyes. "It's no wonder I'm the smart one in this family." She paused when he realized that the boys weren't even looking at her. "Hello?"

She turned around and sighed when she saw the Jennifers walking towards them. She leaned over and raised an eyebrow at Tyler, who was holding onto a giant fan and blowing it in the Jennifer's direction, to make their hair blow out of their face. Tyler shrugged back and waved a twenty dollar bill. Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James watched with dreamy expressions on their faces as the Jennifer's walked by them, without giving them a second glance.

"See!" she pointed to Tyler. "Even _he_ would do anything in Hollywood!" she rolled her eyes. "Suck it up!" With that, she walked away from her brother and his friends, sighing heavily as she approached Tyler. "Hey Dude, what's up?"

"Not much, just got some more money," Tyler replied as he stuffed the twenty dollar bill in his pocket. "It's better than being put into commercials that you don't like."

"Is your mom looking for you, yet?" Katie asked in reply. Tyler smiled.

"Not yet," he replied and then looked at his watch. "But it's not going to be much longer until she looks at the newspaper and finds a casting call. So, what's up with you?"

"Trying to find something to do in this town," Katie replied as she rolled her eyes. "Do you know how hard it is to do when you don't have a license?"

"Who needs a license when you have a gold kart?" Tyler asked in reply as he took a pair of keys out of his pocket and jingled it in Katie's face.

Kelly laughed to herself as she watched Katie and Tyler run off to the back lot of the Palm Woods, to undoubtedly wreak some havoc with the golf karts. The little girl was sneakier than people gave her credit for. She helped the boys get their teen crib, she charged people ten dollars to get into the 'VIP' section of the pool (which in actuality was just a randomly roped off section), is getting into some TV commercials, and now she had keys to the golf kart.

That was kid is definitely going places.

"Kendall, you have one talented sister," she said to Kendall as she turned back to the four boys. Kendall made a face of disgust. (A/N: You know that look that Kendall made in Big Time School of Rocque just after sending Mr. Smitty to Germany and getting caught? That's it.)

"Yeah, I know," he replied in a mumble. "She always gets me in trouble with mom even if I don't do anything, because she's _that_ great of an actress."

"Are you sure it's not just because you're easy to trick?" Logan asked and smiled at Kendall, who narrowed his eyes at him, and followed Kelly out of the Palm Woods lobby.

"Remind me to do something that will annoy him later," Kendall stated to James and Carlos, who silently nodded in reply before the three of them followed them.

"I call the slidy glass window button thing!" Carlos declared loudly as he pushed Kendall and James out of the way and ran to the limo.

* * *

"Alright guys, it's time for you to record your new song," Ronan said into the microphone that was sitting in front of him. He and Robert were sitting in a control room while the DarkElements were standing in t a sound booth, headphones over their ears, and two microphones in front of them.

"What key do you want it to be in?" Sydney replied.

"It doesn't matter," Ronan replied with an easy-going smile as he leaned back in his chair. "I just want you guys to have fun with it. I know that you're going to do a good job." He frowned as Robert pushed his hand away from the intercom button and leaned close to the microphone.

"And try not to screw it up," he added. "We don't have all day to be here and I have other things to do. So let's get this over with as quickly as possible."

"Alright," Riley mumbled under her breath as she moved towards the microphone. "Wow, he's really whacka today," she commented, rolling her eyes at her brothers and sister, who laughed a little bit and then fell silent as they heard the melody of their song start to play in their headphones. They listened to the song for a bit, waiting for the moment where the lyrics started into the song.

"You're hiding something cuz it's burning through your eyes." Riley sang, leaning closer to the microphone and closed her eyes. No one knew why, but whenever she sang, she closed her eyes, as if she was afraid to see the audience watching her. "I try to get it out but all I hear from you are lies." She took a breath, quickly glancing at her father and music producer, who seemed happy, before continuing singing. "And I can tell you're going through the motions I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?"

Riley smiled over at her brothers and sister as they all leaned forward to sing the chorus of the song. "Catalyst, you insist to pull me down. You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here"

Rhuben cleared her throat and instinctively pushed her headphones harder onto her ears. "Your good intentions slowly turned to bitterness" she sang into the microphone, staring hard at her father's reaction. He had an apathetic look on his face, arms crossed, and staring at them intently.

"Turn to bitterness" Noah repeated.

"Reoccurring episodes with each and every kiss" Rhuben sang and backed away from the microphone.

"Let's go!" Patrick screamed loudly.

"And I can tell you're going through the motions. I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?" Rhuben sang again and made room for her brothers.

"Catalyst, you insist to pull me down." Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney all smiled at each other as they really got into the song, putting emotion into their singing. "You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here"

"And I can't believe you pulled it off again." Noah and Sydney sang as Riley, Rhuben, and Patrick jokingly head banged to the beat of the song. "Or notice till it all sets in. You'll deny it till you're at your bitter end"

"And I can tell you're going through the motions." Sydney took the next part of the song, doing a small solo. "I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?"

Ronan couldn't help but smile to himself. He was getting goosebumps. It was obvious that the Jacksons loved to perform with each other and that when they sing they have the time of their lives. Over the years, he had noticed that whenever they were with their father they were kind of subdued and not as lively, but when it came to working on music, they were so energetic.

"Catalyst, you insist to pull me down. You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here." Noah sang as Patrick moved next to him at the microphone for his 'screamo' solo.

"And you keep pulling me down" Patrick screamed.

"Pulling me down, pulling me down" Riley and Rhuben sang in unison, smiling at each other.

"You contradict the fact that you still want me around" Patrick, Noah, and Sydney harmonized.

"And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here" They sang and finished the song with bright smiles and congratulating pats on the back as they took of their headphones and dropped them around their neck.

"So, what'd you think?" Patrick asked, gasping for air. He winced a little as he swallowed. "Ow, I think I hurt my throat."

"We'll get you a throat lozenge later," Robert replied flatly. "Riley, you were a little flat at the beginning, Noah, your voice cracked in the middle, and Sydney, you need to sing more from your diaphragm."

"I thought I did a good job," Sydney muttered, sounding like he was going to cry.

"You did, don't worry," Ronan replied and then turned off the intercom, turning to Robert with a stern expression on his face. "Hey, Rob, take it easy. Your kids are doing a good job and they've been working hard all morning. Especially since you dragged them out of bed early this morning, and made them come straight here." Robert opened his mouth, but Ronan rushed to continue as he had never had the nerve to actually talk to Robert about this. "Plus, they have school later today, and since you're homeschooling them, they're getting pressured for their grades too. I think that you should give them a small break, let them be kids."

Ronan fell silent, waiting for Robert's reply. He could see why his kids were intimidated of him, Robert stood at a good 6'2, towering over his children. And if that wasn't bad enough, he had large arm muscles, and cold grey eyes that looked like you were about to be in trouble when they looked at you. It was amazing that Gustavo got away with anything that he said about Robert, if it were anyone else, they would probably be dead.

Robert took a deep breath, as if he was trying to control his temper, before speaking.

"Ronan, you don't have kids, so you wouldn't understand," Robert snapped as he turned his steel grey eyes on the younger man. "But when you're your children's manager and they have competition, you need them to be the best, and they're not going to _be_ the best if they're constantly taking breaks." He moved forward and slapped the intercom button again. "Again, from the top!"

Ronan sighed and shook his head, but didn't say anything more.

* * *

_Oh Oh Ohhhh Ohhhhh.  
Oh Oh Ohhhh Ohhhhh.  
If you want it all,  
Lay it on the line.  
It's the only life ya got,  
So ya gotta live it big time._

"Good job today, guys," Kelly smiled a few hours later as she put her palm pilot into her purse and smiled at the boys. "I think you deserve the rest of the day off." She put her hand by her mouth. "Just don't tell Gustavo, but if he asks, I'll think of something."

"But Kelly, you're a horrible liar." Logan pointed out.

"Yeah, I know that," Kelly nodded in agreement. "But I think that I can convince him of some sort of diversion if I need it."

"Awesome, thanks, Kelly!" James cried happily.

"No problem," Kelly laughed in reply. "Just don't forget that your publicist is meeting with you guys later to make sure that when the Popstar Interview is published, there's no false information in there."

"Thanks!"

"Bye Kelly!"

"See you later."

"Tell Gustavo we say hi!"

The boys went back to the Palm Woods hotel and flopped down into the large chairs in the lobby. Logan sat up and looked around warily, as if he was waiting for someone to jump out at him. James noticed and rolled his head towards his friend. "What are you doing?"

"Knowing that Bitters hates us, I was checking to make sure that he wasn't around to say that we were breaking some non-existent rule," Logan replied before sighing heavily and leaning back in his chair, wincing slightly as his muscles were still in pain. While they were practicing that day, he, Carlos, and James were working on the flip during the song Big Time Rush, and he had been dropped numerous times. "But he's probably doing the pool check or counting his paycheck."

"Yeah, counting his paycheck." Carlos replied and then gave a smile. "You know what I would do when we get _our_ first paycheck?"

"Buy a zoo and set all the animals free?" Kendall guessed sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

Kendall, James, and Logan didn't even bother to ask why Carlos would do that with his paycheck. Ever since they first met each other, Logan meeting him in 8th grade when he moved from Texas, James and Kendall learned never to ask him why he does the things he does, or why he says the things he says. It was just what made Carlos Carlos and they wouldn't like him any other way. Save for Logan, who gets tired of having to chase Carlos around trying to talk him out of doing some potentially dangerous stunt.

"Boo!"

Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan screamed in fear as they jumped out of their chairs, and then they screamed in pain after having moved so fast. They whirled around when they heard laughter and saw the Jacksons standing up from behind the chairs that Kendall and Logan were sitting in.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought," Riley commented with a smirk. "I thought that plan would have been too easy, but sometimes that works."

"Hey mates, what's up?" Rhuben added as he brushed her hair out of her face.

"It's a ___preposition_," Logan replied as if he was just asked what color the sky was. He gave a teasing smile. "Ask a harder question." Sydney was the only one that laughed at the joke that Logan made, everybody else just stared at him as if he grew a second head.

"What?" Carlos voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Up is a preposition," Logan explained, his smile slowly fading. "And when she asked what's up, I answered." He paused. "It's a joke."

"Yeah, a bad one." James replied.

"It's not my fault that you only get it if you're smart." Logan replied and Sydney smiled sympathetically.

"It's ok, I get that all the time" he replied. Patrick rolled his eyes.

"Can you see how modest he is about his smarts?" he asked dryly.

"What're you doing here?" Kendall asked, changing the subject, not sure why they were talking about people being smart. If he wanted that, he could just listen to Logan ramble on and on about stuff that he doesn't understand.

"Our dad brought us here," Noah replied, looking as if he wasn't really sure why they were there at the palm woods himself. "He said he needed to talk to someone. Business stuff." He added. "But we wanted to apologize for our dad's behavior yesterday." He lightly ran his hand over his arm nervously. Logan looked over at him and saw that as Noah rubbed his arm, it was running over a bruise. He didn't think much about it and tuned back into the conversation.

"Are you kidding? I had a blast!" Carlos cried, smiling excitedly. "Our first night at a fancy restaurant and it wasn't as stuck up as I thought it was going to be."

"Yeah, well, usually our dinners are nor-"Rhuben stopped talking as she was hit across the face by Camille, who popped up out of nowhere.

"How dare you steal my boyfriend, Tina!" she screamed as if she knew who Rhuben was. Kendall and the rest of Big Time Rush watched in amusement, as it wasn't them that was getting screamed at, or in Logan's case, getting told how cute they were. "You _know_ how I felt about him! And my own sister! How could you?"

Camille's face turned red, tears welled up in her eyes, and her face crumpled before their eyes. She burst into sobs and ran away, leaving a stunned Rhuben behind her.

"Why did that crazy girl just slap me?" Rhuben asked eyes wide with shock and confusion. Patrick looked at his sister in confusion.

"You know who that was," he started and Kendall, Carlos, Logan, and James looked at the two of them with confused looks on their faces. "That was Camille, don't you remember when we first came here and she-"Rhuben slapped a hand over Patrick's mouth and laughed nervously.

"Kids, you never know _what's_ going to shoot out of their mouths." She stomped on Patrick's foot and he cried out in pain behind her hand, whimpering slightly.

"He's got chronic foot pain," Noah explained quickly and then cleared his throat. "So, uh, is Katie around?"

"Last I saw she was by the pool." Kendall replied and smiled to himself as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney raced off to find her. They entered the pool deck and saw her and Tyler crouched down behind a potted plant, looking suspiciously like they were up to something. A look that was easy for the Jackson boys to recognize.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Patrick asked as they stood over them. Tyler shushed them and made room for the three boys. "Must be a good prank if you need potted plant coverage."

"Yeah, you know the manager, Bitters?" Katie asked and then continued when the three boys nodded. "Well, at this time of day he usually inspects that people are following the pool rules, so we thought that we would…_help_ him a little bit."

"And by helping you mean to do everything wrong to drive him nuts?" Noah asked and then Katie nodded. He smirked, "Need help, 'cause I think I have something else that will really drive him nuts."

"We're all ears." Tyler replied.

"You still have that sling shot?" Noah asked, turning to Sydney. He nodded in reply and shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out a large sling shot when he pulled his hand out. Noah took the sling shot and took the elastic off of the forked piece of wood. "Watch and learn." He commented to Tyler and Katie.

"Pat, grab onto the other end of this and go over there," Noah pointed to a pool chair. "But get on the chair so Bitters doesn't see you."

"Got it," Patrick saluted his brother and hurried over to the pool chair.

"What do you want me to do?" Sydney asked eagerly, his blue eyes shining brightly.

"You are the most important part," Noah replied as he scanned the pool for Bitters. "What you're going to do is-"

"Waaah!"

Tyler, Katie, Noah, and Sydney turned around and saw Patrick pulling himself out of the pool, looking very pissed off. Tyler and Katie burst out laughing as Patrick stood up to wring out his shirt.

"I'm glad you think this is funny." He muttered.

"We rigged that chair so when our plan worked it would send him onto the chair and then into the pool." Tyler explained.

"Then why didn't you tell to _not_ go to that chair?" Patrick asked through gritted teeth.

"Because we wanted to see it work," Katie grinned in reply.

"Ok, Patrick, go to _that_ chair, then," Noah said pointing to another one. "Is it safe?" he asked Katie and Tyler. They nodded in reply and Patrick stomped off, muttering something under his breath. Noah turned back to Sydney. "Ok, Syd, you're going to pretend that you lost your mom and don't know where she is."

"Fake tears?" Sydney asked eagerly.

"Yeah, I think they would work best in this situation." Noah replied and Sydney nodded before running off to the entrance of the pool. "Now," he sat down beside Tyler and Katie. "Watch and learn."

Sydney took a couple of deep breaths and then pinched himself on a bruised spot on his arm. Tears immediately welled up in his eyes and he opened his mouth and let out a loud screech. Bitters appeared almost immediately, asking what was going on and spraying food out of his mouth.

"I can't find my mommy!" Sydney wailed. "Last I saw her was over by the pool chairs, now I don't know where she is!" he stopped crying long enough to quiver his lower lip. "Can you help me, mister?"

"Fine," Bitters rolled his eyes and started to march over to the pool chairs. "You said she was over here?"

Noah sat up straight and gave Patrick a thumbs up. He leaned over the side of the chair, gave one back, and the two pulled hard on the elastic, causing it to spring up off of the pool deck. Bitters tripped over it, stumbled, and fell into the pool.

"Awesome!" Tyler cried.

"Not bad," Katie agreed as she crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. "Not bad at all."

* * *

Back in the lobby, Big Time Rush and Riley and Rhuben were talking about what they had done that day, in regards to dancing and working on harmonies.

"So, we were just going to chill out for a while before our publicist gets here and-"Kendall stopped and a weird expression slid onto his face as his eyes focused on something behind him. Still looking at the thing over their shoulders, he pointed to Riley. "What's my mom doing with your dad?"

Riley pushed Kendall's hand out of her face and turned around to see what he was talking about. Hers and Rhuben's mouths dropped open when they saw Mrs. Knight and their father standing close to each other, talking.

"I thought dad said that he had business to take care of." Rhuben muttered.

"Oh, he's taking care of business alright." James commented and he, Logan, and Carlos burst out laughing.

"My mom and your dad?" Kendall asked.

"My dad and your mom?" Riley asked at the same time.

The two looked at each other with identical faces of horror. "Gross!"

* * *

**A/N: This is a long chapter, longer than what I usually write, but I wanted to get a bit of a lot of characters into this chapter. I hope you guys liked it. It took a bit to get to the point, but it got there eventually.**

**So what I'm trying to do with this story is make it original and not just another 'There are OCs so they're going to fall in love' kind of story. Because I was thinking of how would the guys handle it if they had a little competition in the show. I don't want there to be a lot of romance in it, at least, not enough to completely change it from the humorous tone that I'm trying to make it, because this is my first time writing humor. What do you think of it so far? Oh and what song by the boys do you like better, Big Time Rush, or The City Is Ours?**

**Also, be sure to check out my sister's BTR fic, Welcome to the Big Time.**

**-Riley**


	6. Big Time Song Stealer

**.:****Chapter Six – Big Time Song Stealer****:.**

**

* * *

**

"I don't know about you, but it will be a _very_ bad thing if your mom and our dad got together." Rhuben commented as she pulled her iPod from her pocket and looked through a song on it.

"What's wrong with my mom?" Kendall demanded.

"Nothing," Riley interjected as she rolled her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with your mom, it's our dad that I'm worried about." She slapped a hand over her mouth as if she had said more than she needed to and her eyes widened as the boys of Big Time Rush stare at her. "Nothing, forget I said anything. We have to go."

"What about Pat, No, and Syd?" Rhuben asked as she looked up at her sister a look on her face that showed that she wasn't sure why they were leaving.

"We'll get them later," Riley replied and started to speed walk away. "C'mon."

"Riley, watch ou-"

"Aaaah!"

Rhuben and Big Time Rush winced as they watched Riley trip over a maid's cart and fall to the ground, along with the toilet paper rolls, towels, soaps, and little bottles of shampoo and conditioners. Rhuben sighed and shook her head, not really phased by what had just happened.

"Don't worry about her," she stated as she shook her head. "Riley's a klutz when she's not performing, it happens a lot." She shoved her iPod into her pocket and walked over to her sister, who had pushed herself up off of the floor and was brushing off her legs. Big Time Rush watched as Rhuben said something to her sister, motion to their dad, and speed walk out of the hotel lobby.

"Am I the only one that thinks that they're acting really weird?" Logan asked as he looked over at his friends.

"Ooh, miniature shampoo!" Carlos cried and dove over to the cart, grabbing as many bottles as he could. "This is _so_ cool!"

"Carlos, you _are_ aware of the fact that we have those in our apartment, right?" Kendall asked as he watched his friend.

"Yeah, and they're bigger than those." James added and then grinned. "How else do you think I'm able to keep my hair nice and manageable?"

"But these are _mini_ ones!"

"Anyway, what do you think that their father is here for anyway?" Logan asked, changing the subject. "I really doubt that he only came by just to get your mom to go out on a date with him." He added as he turned to Kendall. He shrugged in reply.

"As long as she's happy." He replied sounding as if he didn't care. "I just hope that they don't get married or anything, because that guy seriously freaks me out." He shrugged again. "Let's go to the apartment." He turned around and was slapped across the face by Camille.

"I can't believe that you got me drunk," she gasped, clenching her hands into fists, her face turning red with anger. "And then you caused me to break up with my boyfriend!" she motioned over to Logan, who looked shocked and scared at the same time. "Just so you could date me yourself? I hate you Ashton Moore. You really-"

"90210?" James questioned.

"Yeah," Camille dropped her façade and smiled. "Did you think that that was convincing? Or do you feel that I should put in a little more rage?"

"I think you have enough rage, Camille," Kendall replied as he rubbed his sore cheek. He was starting to get used to the sudden slappings, but Camille was stronger than she looked. Camille smiled at Kendall's praise and then her gaze moved over to Carlos, who was busy shoving miniature shampoo bottles into his pockets.

"Does he realize that every apartment has those?" she asked.

"We don't bother questioning anything that Carlos does or says anymore," Logan replied as he rolled his eyes. "It's less stressful."

"Hey, Camille, you know everybody that works around here, right?" James asked and Camille nodded. "What do you know about Robert Jackson? I mean, I know that he doesn't work here, but if anybody knows anything about everybody, it's you."

"Well, I know that he is very intimidating," Camille replied and shuddered a little bit as she watched Robert say goodbye to Mrs. Knight and walk away, out of the Palm Woods. He looked back and forth, as if he was waiting for someone to recognize him, and then started walking off down the street. "He pushes his clients really hard, especially his own kids. I heard that he can be worse than Gustavo." She tilted her head in thought. "In the past years there have been a few accusations of him stealing people's songs and passing them off as his own, but other than that, he's a really private man and doesn't do much to bring attention to myself."

"Right," Kendall didn't really sound convinced. "Thanks Camille."

* * *

Robert smirked to himself as he walked through the hallways of Rocque Records towards Gustavo's office. Anybody that he passed just smiled and nodded at him and he mentally congratulated himself. It was true when people said that if you acted like you know what you were doing, nobody would bother you. And it's too bad that they didn't realize that he didn't work there. It would probably keep him from doing what he was about to do. But hey, if you want to be the best, you have to take drastic measures, and that's what Robert Jackson was known for…

The next few days went b without anything out of the ordinary. The Jacksons went through their routines without a hitch and surprisingly they weren't hit at all, their father seemed to be happy about something, happier than usual and even though the Jacksons were happy that they weren't getting punched or slapped on a daily basis, they were suspicious that something was going on.

But they couldn't put their finger on it.

So one morning when the Jacksons were, well, goofing off in the dance studio, Robert finally put his plan into action. The timing couldn't be any better than today was, and he knew that it was going to shake up Gustavo.

"Hey guys," he walked into the studio with Ronan behind him. They both stopped when they saw Riley and Rhuben sitting by a mirrored wall, holding up a digital camera, Noah crouched on the ground, Patrick sitting on his back, and Sydney perched on Patrick's shoulders. Below them was a large mat used in gymnastics. "What are you doing? And I'm actually afraid of having to ask that question."

"We're trying this thing we saw on YouTube," Patrick started to explain. "You see-"

"Stop right there," Robert held up a hand and Patrick instantly fell silent. "As soon as you said YouTube, I realized that it was going to be a very, very stupid idea and that you'll probably cause Sydney bodily harm." He sighed. "Get down."

As the three boys immediately did as they were told, Rhuben let out a groan of annoyance and stood up, turning off the digital camera. "This was going to go on our website," she practically whined. "I mean, who _wouldn't_ want to see Patrick hurt himself?"

"Wait," Patrick paused. "Why is it that you automatically assume that _I _would get hurt." He looked offended as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Because you always do," Noah replied as if it was obvious. He paused and then turned to Riley. "Actually, I think Riley has you beat, she already tripped and rammed her head into the mirror this morning."

"Funny," Riley replied and rubbed her forehead. "You _do_ know that that hurt, right?"

"I guessed from the loud thunk that came from the contact." He replied and Riley rolled her eyes again, coming to attention when Ronan cleared his throat.

"You guys have to hear this song," He stated as Robert handed out sheets of paper to his kids. "Robert wrote it and it's the perfect song for you guys to do for your next album." He paused. "You still want it to be a mix of a lot of different genres, right?"

"Yeah," Rhuben nodded and took the piece of paper. She looked over it and nodded approvingly. "I got to admit, this is really good, dad." She paused and looked over at her father, who was looking back t her, sternly. "I mean, sir."

"Thank you," he replied, sounding pleased of himself. "I'm thinking of calling it The Big Time." He waved a hand in the air, letting everyone know that it wasn't a big deal if the song didn't have a name yet. "But it's a work in progress so I think of something soon."

"Make it count, play it straight. Don't look back, don't hesitate" Patrick started to sing, lightly bobbing his head as he thought of a beat to go along with the song.

"When you go, big time" Noah jumped into the song. "What you want, what you feel. Never quit and make it real."

"When you roll big time!" Sydney sang.

"Hey! Hey! "Patrick and Noah chanted.

"Listen to your heart now" Riley sang with a small smile on her face.

"Hey! Hey! "

"Don't you feel the rush?"

"Hey! Hey! "

"Better take your shot now."

"Oh, oh. Oh, oh." The Jacksons sang in unison, starting to really get into the song. "Go and shake it up, what you gotta lose?" As they sang, the Jacksons started to goof off, doing funny dances around the studio. Ronan smiled as he watched, he hadn't seen them that happy before, even when their father was in the room. It was a good change of pace. "Gonna make your luck with the life you choose. If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got so you got to live it big time."

They laughed as they stopped dancing and turned to their father, bright smiles across their faces. "That's a great song, did you really write it daddy?" Sydney asked as dimples appeared in his cheeks, he was smiling so big. His smile faded as Robert stormed over to him and slapped him across the face. Sydney whimpered and moved over to Noah's side, grabbing onto his waist tightly.

"Yes, I really wrote it," Robert snapped in reply as he balled his hands into fists. He seemed to have forgotten that Ronan was in the room, because he continue to shout and snap as his kids, ordering them to continue singing the song as he wanted them to have it done in a couple of days.

Ronan shook his head, but was hesitant about saying anything. He had had this conversation with the Jacksons before. They begged him not to tell anyone what was happening, because they didn't want to get split apart and they seemed to think that they could handle this all themselves. But Ronan knew one thing for sure, if he ever saw Robert laid a hand on them again, or if he even saw something that looked like he had inflicted pain on them, he didn't know what he was going to do.

Back at the Palm Woods, the Big Time Rush boys were nervous, and that was an understatement.

"Hey mom, can you come to our mall concert today?" Kendall asked as he flipped through the TV channels. He was nervous as hell and anybody could see that. His hand was shaking rapidly and he couldn't concentrate on any TV show that he had changed it to. "You know, at the mall?"

"That's sort of the basis of a _mall concert_," Katie pointed out from where she was sitting next to him on the couch. She raised an eyebrow at her brother. "What are you so nervous about? You've done stuff in front of crowds before. You play hockey in front of hundreds of people."

"Katie's right, honey." Mrs. Knight stated as she walked out of her room. "Why are you nervous for this?"

"This is different, it's an actual concert." Kendall defended himself. "And I'm not the only one that's nervous. Look at the other guys!"

Mrs. Knight and Katie looked around the apartment and saw Logan was sitting under the dining table, his knees up to his chest, and rocking back and forth. It was obvious that he was terrified because he was mumbling math equations under his breath, something that he only did when he was trying to calm himself down about something. James was frantically brushing his hair muttering to himself that he had to look perfect for that afternoon. He was muttering some mantras like 'you look pretty, so you're going to do fine' and stuff like that, under his breath. Carlos, well, he was sitting in the corner of the room, looking at a large plant.

"Uh, Carlos, what are you doing?" Kendall asked.

"Thinking."

"About what?"

"I was just wondering; do girl plants and boy plants get married and have little seeds?" Carlos replied and then turned to his friend. "Is that how other plants are born?"

Mrs. Knight stared and then turned to her son. "Is he-"

"Yes, unfortunately, he's serious." Kendall interrupted.

"You have some weird friends," Katie stated as she rolled her eyes and then grabbed a bag off of the coffee table. "So why don't we go to see what the Jacksons are up to? Patrick said that we could come by anytime we wanted to. So why not go now?"

"That's a good idea," Mrs. Knight agreed. "It will probably take your mind off of the upcoming concert and you guys will be able to calm down a little bit." She smiled brightly and Katie and Kendal exchanged skeptical glances.

Kendall explained to Katie what he had seen that day and asked her how she would feel if their mother started to date again, especially after the two of them were still mad at their dad leaving them. (Something that they never mentioned to their mom.) Katie didn't really give a positive or a negative answer; she just made a sound and never really answered him. Kendall wasn't really sure how he felt about it either, he hadn't ever thought about their mom starting to date again. He knew it was going to happen eventually, but he wasn't sure with how he felt about it if she was going to go out with the Jacksons' father. There was something off about him.

"Why not?" Kendall agreed, pushing the thought of his mom dating out of his mind, and stood up, rubbing his hands together. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."

James, Logan, and Carlos gladly got up from their positions and followed Katie and Kendall out of the apartment. They stopped at the front desk, asking Bitters were Rolling Records was, and then left the Palm Woods to start walking the five blocks away. As they walked, they were smiled at and waved to by several people that they passed.

"Wow, people in LA sure are friendly," Logan commented.

"Yeah, much more friendly than people in St. Paul," James agreed and then grinned as he stretched his arms above his head. "But then again, that's the price of being famous! People actually recognize you now!" he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and walked into someone.

"Watch where you're going, you loser!" a girl snapped as she shot him a disgusted look and continued where she was going.

"I guess she didn't recognize you," Carlos cracked and he, Kendall, Logan, and Katie burst out laughing, James pouted and brushed his hair out of his face. They arrived at Rolling Records in about ten minutes and wandered around the lobby for a little bit before a friendly woman asked who they were there for. When told that they were looking for the DarkElements, they were given directions to go to the sixth fourth floor and to the dance studio at the end of the hall.

As they walked along the hallway, they looked at the posters of the bangs that had been managed by the recording company. Some they recognized, others they didn't.

"Hey, here's the one for the Jacksons." Katie called from further down the hall. Big Time Rush hurried over to her and looked at the picture. "This must have been taken when they started two years ago." She pointed out. "Sydney looks younger than he does now."

"He's seven now, so he was five then." Logan pointed out. "He must have been really talented if he was able to be signed with the rest of them while he was so young."

"Which explains why he's still doing it now," Kendall replied and then turned his head as he heard dance/techno music start to fill the hallway. "They must be practicing."

"Then, maybe we should come back later," Logan replied looking sort of nervous.

"No, it's fine." James replied as he pushed his friend towards the door. "We're all friends aren't we?" He reached out and grabbed the door handle and pushed it open. Kendall, Katie, James, Carlos, and Logan stopped and waited for one of the Jacksons to notice them. They were all lined up in front of a mirror, slowly moving through dance moves as Rhuben was calling them out.

"Hey!" Katie called with a wave.

Patrick was the first one to notice their visitors and nudged Noah, before getting Rhuben's attention. She looked to the side and reached out with her foot to kick off the boom box. "Hey, what's up?" she asked, slightly out of breath.

"What brings you by?" Riley added.

"Patrick said that we could come by anytime," Katie replied and then jerked her thumb at her brother. "And these bozos were starting to freak out about their mall concert today so we decided to come by and get them time to clear their heads."

"You're always welcome," Sydney replied with a bright smile.

"At least when dad's not around," Noah muttered under his breath as he scratched his forehead, to make sure that no one heard him.

"We were just working on some dance moves for a new song that we're working on," Sydney quickly said, moving in front of Noah. "We're working on two of them right now. One called All Downhill from Here and this one…that is nameless so far."

"Can we check it out?" Kendall asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Sure," Riley walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed a sheet of paper off of the ground. As she started to walk back, she stubbed her foot against the boom box and let out a little cry of pain before muttering something under her breath.

"Here ya go." Riley stated as she handed the sheet of paper to Logan. He took wit with a large smile on his face, and the others crowded around. But as he looked it over, his smile faded almost instantly and his mouth dropped open. Kendall frowned and then did a double take. James gave one of his high-pitched screams and covered his mouth as his eyes widened in disbelief.

Carlos took the sheet of paper and looked it over and then gave a small laugh as he pointed to it. "Hey, this reminds me of our song, Big Time Rush!"

Logan started to say something, but James held his hand out in front of Logan's face. "Wait for it."

Katie, Kendall, James, and Logan waited, watching Carlos' reaction. Carlos's smile faded after about twenty seconds and then he grabbed the sheet of paper again. "Hey! This _is_ our song!"

"Yeah, why'd you steal it?" James asked as he turned to the Jacksons.

"Steal it?" Patrick echoed, looking extremely confused. "What do you mean, steal it?"

"Steal;" Logan recited. "To take without the owner's consent." He held the song sheet up against his chest. "This is _our_ song! And you _stole_ it!"

"Don't you mean, stealed it?" Carlos asked, but was ignored.

"We didn't steal this song!" Rhuben replied, her eyes narrowed to slits and her hands clenched into fists. If Rhuben looked like that, then Sydney definitely didn't want to look at Riley. Riley was the one that had the worst temper you could ever see and if Rhuben was mad, then Riley was downright pissed off.

"Oh yeah, then who wrote it?" Kendall demanded.

"Our dad did!" she spat back in reply.

"Well if you dad suddenly became Gustavo Rocque, then I don't think so!" Logan replied.

"Yeah," Carlos nodded. "You don't even look like Gustavo."

"Well we don't really look like our dad either," Rhuben replied as if it was obvious. She looked at her fingernails as if she was bored and then dropped her arm. "We're adopted, stupid!" she hissed coolly. Carlos made a whimpering sound and jumped behind Logan, who made a face of extreme annoyance. "But I'm telling you, our dad wrote this."

"Yeah, you mean he stole it." James replied and then pouted. "This makes me really sad. I always knew that I was going to be famous, but I didn't think that my stuff was going to get stolen so fast." He sniffed loudly. "I always pictured it after my second album dropped." He sniffed again and turned to Logan. "Logan, hold me."

"Listen here you little 'turd-"Riley stated as she jabbed James in the chest with her index finger, her jaw clenched and a vein throbbing in her chest.

"Hey," Kendall stepped in and stood in front of her, frowning down at her. "Don't call my friends names."

"Then don't accuse _me_ of something that _I _didn't do!" Riley snapped back in reply and snatched the paper from Carlos' hands. "Our dad stole this song without us knowing," she spoke that sentence to her siblings who all had different expressions ranging from annoyance to anger to shock. She turned back to Kendall. "And I'm going to prove it."

* * *

"HE DID WHAT?"

Kelly pulled her fingers out of her ears and sighed. This was going to be the fifth time that she was going to say it. "Ok, I'm going to say this one more time." She motioned to the boys of Big Time Rush that were standing with her and Gustavo behind the flimsy curtain that was hiding them from the crowd that had gathered. They could hear the murmuring easily. "They found out that Robert Jackson stole your…their song Big Time Rush."

"How could he be so…so…cunning?" Gustavo questioned.

"What?!" The boys chorused along with Kelly. They weren't sure what Gustavo's reaction would have been, but this definitely wasn't what they were anticipating.

"What do you mean cunning?" Kendall spat. "They stole our song."

"But you don't have any proof that it was Riley and them that took it!" Katie said for the sixth time. "I'm pretty sure that they didn't know anything about it."

"And how would you know that?"

"Their reactions!"

"Whatever," James cried, throwing his arms up into the air.

"I hate to admit it, but to be on top this was actually a good play," Gustavo sighed. "He took a unreleased single and made it his own." He saw the look on everyone's face. "But legally, there's not much that I could do because I haven't gotten around to copywriting the song."

"So you're saying that there's nothing that we can do?" Logan questioned.

"No, there is something that _you_ can do," Gustavo grabbed James and Carlos by the front of the shirt. "You guys are going to go out there and perform. But instead of doing Big Time Rush as one of your performances, you're going to do some of those covers that we decided on in case we needed a backup." He shoved them forward. "Now!"

Gustavo waited until they had gone onstage, announced themselves, and started up their first song before turning to Kelly, who was looking at him in shock. "What?"

"You aren't going to do anything?" she demanded.

"No, I'm going to do something alright," Gustavo replied and pushed up his shirt sleeves. "I'm going to kick my _old pal's_ ass!" he started to walk away. "Emphasis on the old!"

* * *

**A/N: another long chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed this one. The part when I mentioned that they were from St. Paul, Minnesota was made up by me. I realized that they never actually stated where they were from, so I made it up.**

**So, what I've been wondering is whether or not I should make my girl OCs (Riley and Rhuben) fall for some of the Big Time Rush guys. I mean, I was already doing a sort of crush thing with Katie, but I'm not sure how you guys would feel if I did it with the guys. I think it would be good because I feel that I have established my characters as uniquely and as realistic as possible and so they don't seem like Mary-Sues. What do you guys think, would you still read the story?**

**Also, be sure to read my sister's BTR fic, Welcome to the Big Time.**


	7. Big Time Proposition

**.:****Chapter Seven – Big Time Proposition****:.**

**

* * *

**

"_It was crazy but tonight, the city is ours"_

The boys finished the song, but instead of the large, proud smiles that they usually wore, their faces were mixtures of anger and depression. Kelly sighed as she shook her head, turning to look at Gustavo, waiting. But surprising he didn't yell at them through their headphones to tell them how horrible the song was, he just gave a thumbs up and stood up and stretched. For Gustavo Rocque, this was definitely weird.

Gustavo cleared his throat, motioned for Kelly to follow him, and then walked out of the control room. Kelly as about to ask him why he wasn't giving the guys any feedback before Gustavo slammed open the door of the recording studio and walked in. Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James looked at each other curiously before turning their full attention to Gustavo.

"That," Gustavo took a deep breath. "WAS PATHETIC!" As he screamed, out of nowhere was a gust of wind and the boys reared back on their stools as the wind was pushed into their faces, causing their eyes to grow wide.

"You can't really expect us to _want _to sing," Logan defended himself, always the logical one. "Especially after what happened."

"I'm fully aware of what happened," Gustavo held his hand up in Logan's face to get him to stop talking. "I even went and talked to Robert about it."

"So, what happened?" James asked eagerly.

_Gustavo got into his limo and instructed the driver to go to Rolling Records. He definitely had a score to settle with his old 'friend'. His hands were clenched into fists and he was breathing heavily as he waited with anticipation to see Robert again. As soon as he got to Rolling Records he climbed out of the car and strode into the building, pushing people out of his way._

"_Hello sir, how can I help-"_

"_What floor is Robert Jacksons' office?" Gustavo demanded, not letting the secretary to finish his sentence. The young man backed away in fear, not knowing why the strange man was yelling at him._

"_You rang?"_

_Gustavo whirled around to see Robert standing behind him, not looking surprised to see him there. He had his hands in his pockets and the tie around his neck was loosened. Looking at him, Gustavo could tell that he was annoyed and angry about something, and that was exactly how Gustavo felt himself, so it wouldn't be that bad to make a scene._

"_What's up?" Robert asked carelessly as Gustavo strode over to him. He raised an eyebrow as Gustavo jabbed a finger into his chest and started to open and close his mouth, but there was no sound coming out. "Have you gone mute?"_

"_Don't joke with me!" Gustavo shouted. Robert blinked and pushed Gustavo's hand away from his chest._

"_Did you drop your doughnut again? Is this what this is about?" he asked and then walked around Gustavo to go to the front desk. "Hey, Artie, are my kids back yet?"_

"_No, they're still practicing." Artie replied with a small smile. "Do you want me to ring for them?"_

"_No, I'll check on them later." Robert replied carelessly. He turned around and almost walked into Gustavo, who had now turned a nasty shade of red. "You're still here?"_

"_You stole my song!" Gustavo snarled, getting close to Robert's face._

"_Yeah, so?" Robert waved a hand in front of his face. "If I were you I'd get a breath mint." He added. Gustavo took a step back, and took off his sunglasses, looking confused._

"_I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention, did you just admit that you stole the song?" he asked in a low tone. Robert looked around and then nodded as a large smile spread onto his face._

"_Yeah." He raised his eyebrows. "I stole your song." He raised a finger in the air, looking and acting like a teenager more than an adult. "Do you want to know why I'm openly admitting it?"_

"_That would be nice." Gustavo replied simply._

"_It's because, my friend," Robert placed an arm around Gustavo's shoulders. "You can't prove that I stole it. You were dumb enough to not put a time stamp on it, and you haven't actually released it yet."_

"_Yeah, but Griffin-"_

"_Griffin is an old fart that doesn't even remember his daughter's name half of the time." Robert interrupted and smirked. "Sorry Gusto, but you can't win." He gave a fake laugh. "It was very nice working with you again."_

"That sucks!" James stated after Gustavo finished his story. That pretty much summed up every thought that everybody else had.

"Gustavo, is there really anything that you can't do?" Carlos asked sounding defeated.

"Yep," Gustavo let out a heavy sigh. "It's true, there's not much else that we can do except to suck it up and move on." He took his sunglasses off, rubbed his nose warily, and put them back on again. "You guys did a good job today. You have the rest of the day off." He started to walk out, but the paused and turned back around. "And no plans! I don't want to hear that you guys have done something stupid!"

With that, Gustavo and Kelly walked out of the studio. Kendall let out a sigh himself and stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Who wants to eat?" he asked and turned to follow his manager out of the room.

"Wait," James jumped up and grabbed his friend's arm, causing him to stop. "Kendall, aren't you going to do anything?"

"What can I do?" Kendall asked as he turned around and shrugged his hands still in his pockets. Logan, James, and Carlos looked at each other in shock. This couldn't be Kendall Knight. Kendall was the one that always had a plan to everything. Even before they could finish their sentence of asking him to help them with something, he would already be thinking of a plan and have it running before Logan could back out of it. "Let's just go, alright? Gustavo was right, there's nothing that we can do. There's no plan that I can think of"

Kendall left the recording studio and Logan, Carlos, and James slowly followed him, not sure what just happened or how to fix it. Carlos was so upset that he had unclipped his helmet and was just studying it in his hands.

When they got to the Palm Woods, all of their friends immediately noticed that something was wrong. Usually the four boys from Minnesota was complaining about Gustavo working them too hard, hanging out in the pool, at the smoothie bar, in Katie's 'VIP' section, or flirting (and getting dissed) by the Jennifers. But today they were practically dragging themselves into the pool area. Even Camille didn't want to go and try her monologue on them. She turned right around and went over to where Katie and the Jacksons were sitting.

Katie had recently asked why they were always over at the Palm Woods, when they worked at a different record company, and Rhuben replied saying that because there was no one to talk to over there except for Ronan, and they didn't want to hang out with a twenty five year old all the time. She believed it, but she also had a feeling of doubt too.

"Hey," Camille greeted as she sat down on one of the empty pool chairs. "What's up with the guys?"

"They're probably still upset because our dad stole their song." Rhuben replied as she rolled her eyes. "They're acting like a bunch of whiny babies if you ask me."

"Yeah," Patrick agreed as he used his fingers to brush his hair back into perfect spikes. Noah eyed him out of the corner of his eyes and made a face as he turned and looked at his twin.

"What are you doing?" he questioned in his soft tone.

"_One_ of us has to be the better looking twin," Patrick replied with a teasing smile.

"Your hair is fine," Katie replied as she made a face and then turned to Camille, motioning to the Jacksons. "So apparently they went around with different plans to get their dad to fess up about stealing the song."

"Yeah, he's smarter than he looks." Sydney agreed with a mumbled as he messed with his shoes.

"Compared to Patrick, so is everybody." Riley cracked in reply and ignored the hurt look that crossed her brother's features. She cupped her chin in her hand. "We've had some pretty good ideas too. I mean, probably some of the best that we've ever…" she trailed off and sat up, a slow smile starting to form on her face.

"I know that look," Rhuben commented as she turned her head and looked at her sister. "You have an idea."

"I have one in the making." Riley replied as she placed her hand on her chin, her eyes shifting back and forth. She smiled and nodded after a second. "Yeah, I have an idea."

"Well, what is it?" Katie asked eagerly.

"Can I help?" Camille asked. "From hearing all of the other plans that you had, you may need a distraction." She smiled warmly. "And I'm up for anything that will help further my acting career."

"How fast can you do costume changes?"

"As fast as you need me to do it."

"Good." Riley took a deep breath and stood up, brushing off the bottoms of her pants. "Now all we need to do is get them to agree to this plan."

"As hard as that's going to be," Rhuben added as she rolled her eyes. "C'mon." she hoisted Sydney up onto her back and the group of them walked around the pool to the boys of Big Time Rush. When they saw the Jacksons coming, they just looked away. "Listen," Rhuben set her brother on the ground and placed her hands on her hips. "I know we aren't your favorite people right now, but you have to believe us when we say that we didn't steal your song."

"Why should we believe you?" James asked.

"Because we're telling the truth," Noah replied in his soft voice and then blushed when all eyes turned towards him. He took a step back and took a side-step behind Patrick. "And if we weren't it would be obvious that we're lying." He turned towards Camille. "Right?"

"Wait a minute," Kendall sat up and looked at them suspiciously. "Last time we ran into Camille, you told us that you didn't know who she was. So how do you know her well enough for her to know whether or not she can tell you're lying?"

Noah turned pale and then looked over at Rhuben, who rubbed her forehead and then nodded. She looked over at Riley, who looked pissed off and then ran her fingers through her hair. "Ok," she sighed. "Truth time." She looked at the four boys sitting in front of her, who now was staring at her. "The reason that we know Camille, the reason that Gustavo hates our dad, and the reason that Gustavo remembers all of us," she motioned to her siblings. "Is because we used to be signed to Rocque Records."

"What?" the four boys cried in unison.

"Yeah, Dad and Gustavo worked together," Riley explained and rolled her eyes making a face of disgust. "And then they started to argue a lot because of creative differences, yada, yada, yada. Long story short," she took a deep breath. "They argued so much that they decided to become 'rivals' to outdo each other, and that's why dad stole our song."

"But he won't admit that he stole it," Rhuben jumped into the conversation. "At least not to us."

"And we've had so many plans that we've tried." Noah added.

"That had all failed," Patrick inputted.

"And now Ri-Ri has another idea but we need all of your guys' help." Sydney concluded and then widened his eyes. It was called the 'wounded puppy look' by his siblings as you were never able to say 'no' to him when his eyes got really big. Well, you usually couldn't ever say 'no' to Sydney because he was that cute. "So, will you help us?"

"But," Riley cut into the conversation and her siblings, Camille, and Katie looked at her in confusion. "You have to do something for us in return." She ignored the looks on her siblings' faces and continued. "I mean, we're really risking getting into a lot of trouble with our dad, _and_ the record company by doing this."

"What do you want us to do?" Carlos asked.

"I'll let you know," Riley dismissed and then held her hand out towards Kendall. "We gotta deal?"

Logan, James, and Carlos turned towards Kendall and studied the expression on his face. He looked like he was thinking really hard. The three always turned to Kendall when it came to a decision as he was the undecided leader of the group. So it made sense that Riley was asking him whether or not to make the deal. Kendall looked around at his friends' faces; they looked like they wanted to do it, but didn't want to agree unless Kendall agreed. Then he looked over at Katie. She looked like she was ready to jump out of her skin with excitement. Then he looked at Camille, she was someone that always simply went along and helped them with their plans, and that was only because she had an excuse to hang out with Logan. But she was also very helpful when they needed it.

Finally, he turned and looked at the Jacksons. Sydney was still doing the wounded puppy face and Kendall started to smile a little bit. Noah was still standing a little bit behind Patrick, looking worried. Patrick looked like he was ready for any answer that Kendall could give him. Rhuben had a cool expression in her eyes, something that he had noticed when they first met. And Riley, like Patrick, had a look of determination, but Riley's was a larger look. As if she wouldn't give up, even if she was proven completely wrong.

"You know what," Kendall stood up and faced the Jacksons. "You've got yourself a deal." He took Riley's hand and shook it. "When do we learn the plan?"

"Later tonight," Rhuben replied and then smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest. "As long as you invite us to your guys' place." Her smirk grew wider when she saw Big Time Rush's confused glances. "We heard that you have a really cool swirly slide."

* * *

"Hi Mrs. Knight," Sydney beamed as he stuck out his hand towards Kendall's and Katie's mother. "My name is Sydney Jackson. It's nice to meet you." Sydney's smile grew bigger as Mrs. Knight let out a loud 'aww' and shook his hand vigorously.

"You're as cute as Robert described you," Mrs. Knight then turned to the other Jacksons. "Let me guess," she pointed to Rhuben. "Riley," and then to Riley, "Rhuben," she pointed to Patrick, "Noah," and then to Noah, "and Patrick."

"Uh, no," Noah replied politely. "I'm Noah, that's Patrick. And that's Riley and Rhuben." He shrugged a shoulder. "It's easier to tell us apart with our colors and our voices. May we come in?"

"Yes, please." Mrs. Knight took a step back and the Jacksons walked into the apartment.

"Swirly slide!" Sydney shouted and started to run over to it. Rhuben put out an arm and easily scooped Sydney up off of the floor and held him upside down over her shoulder. "Rhu-Rhu put me down!"

"I pretty much had the same reaction." Carlos admitted as he watched in amusement.

"I'll just leave you guys alone," Mrs. Knight smiled at the group of kids in her apartment. "There's a pizza on the way when you guys get hungry."

"Thanks, Mrs. Knight." Patrick beamed and sat down on the floor.

"Ok, so what's the plan?" James asked as he straightened the black bandana that he had around his forehead, waiting as the Jacksons sat down. Rhuben noticed and then pointed at this head.

"Cool, a bandana!" she stated and smiled a little. "We could use those. Do you have any more?"

"Yeah, I have a lot," James cried and got to his feet to go off to his room. He looked at his friends smugly. "I told you that bandanas were a good idea." He practically skipped off to his bedroom as his friends let out groans of annoyance.

"We don't know him," Logan stated after a second of silence. "So, what's the plan?"

"Ok, this is what we're going to do," Patrick pulled a large, long rolled up piece of paper out of the backpack that he was wearing on his back and unrolled it. On it was some sort of a blue-print of Rocque Records, the Palm Woods, Rolling Records, and the Jacksons' apartment building, the Silver Spring. He jabbed a finger at Rocque Records. "This is where Gustavo is going to be," he pointed at the Palm Woods. "This is where we're trying to keep Gustavo away from," he pointed at Rolling Records, "this is where our dad is going to be," then he pointed at the Silver Spring. "And this is where the rest of us are going to be."

"What we figured out is that Gustavo _and_ our dad are scheduled to be at meeting s sometime tomorrow," Rhuben explained. "And because you guys don't have school tomorrow, it will be easier for us to get this done."

"How did you know that we don't have school tomorrow?" Carlos asked and his eyes grew wide. "Are you stalking us?"

"Moving on," Rhuben ignored him. "So our plan is to get dad to admit that he stole the song without him actually knowing that we'll get proof of it." She looked up as James came back from his bedroom holding onto a large handful of black bandanas.

Riley jumped into the conversation, being bossy and controlling as always, Rhuben frowned, being interrupted and Camille giggled at the pissed off expression on her face.

"Ok, so Camille, Katie, Carlos, and Noah, what they're going to do is get Gustavo away from the Palm Woods and Rocque Records," she said.

"Why does Gustavo have to be away from both buildings?" Kendall asked as he furrowed his eyebrows together.

"Because if you guys are gone, he's going to go on a rampage to try and find you." Camille explained. "It makes a lot of sense really." She cleared her throat. "What the four of us are going to do is make as many diversions to keep him away as possible." She looked pained. "We may have to get someone to drive. But I don't have my permit yet."

"You're sixteen years old and don't have a permit?" Logan asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Logan, you're the only one out of the four of us that has their permit." James pointed out as he rolled his eyes. For days after Logan had gotten his permit, he had bragged that studying had paid off. Carlos had failed every time he tried because he easily got distracted, Kendall read the book once and figured that he could wing it, and failed, and James was too busy looking at himself in a nearby mirror, the one that you use if you have glasses or contacts, and forgot everything that was needed for the permit test and failed.

"I don't have one either" Riley shrugged, looking offended and then jerked her thumb over to Rhuben. "She's the only one with a license in our family besides our dad and our older brother."

"But if you need someone to drive, then why-"

"Fake ID," Rhuben interrupted. "We can get one made fast and there's a car that was used for a music video where it was kind of like autopilot."

"But if you have a license, why don't you go and drive if we need it?" Katie asked a she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Patrick watched her as she did this and when she caught his gaze; he blushed and looked away quickly, messing with his shoelace.

"Because we need Rhuben to keep dad in Rolling Records." Riley continued. "That's the next part of the plan. "Rhuben, Logan, Patrick, and Sydney are going to be in Silver Spring, calling from many different phones, and disguising their voice so they can ask dad whether or not it is true that he stole a song." She quickly explained when she was met with silence. "We want him to be shaken up and accidentally spill the beans. And with the constant calls, he won't be able to leave his office and go to the meeting" She then jabbed her index finger onto Rolling Records. "James, Kendall, and I are going to go into dad's office and get his confession on tape."

"What do you think?" Rhuben asked when Riley finished.

"I think you're crazy," Logan spoke up quickly. "But it seems like this is going to work. So count me in." he gave a double gun point, winked, and made a clicking sound with his mouth. His trademark grin.

"Whoa, that's scary," James looked shocked. "Stick-in-the-mud Logan is actually going along with an idea for once? That's shocking."

"I think it's a good idea," Carlos agreed. "I can't wait to be able to drive a car!"He jumped up and started to run around, making car engine sounds.

"Carlos, you're not going to be driving a-"Camille stopped talking and winced when Carlos rammed into a wall and fell to the ground.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Katie winced.

"What happened?" Mrs. Knight asked as she hurried out of her bedroom, stepping over Carlos. "It's not some sort of axe murderer that's trying to get in is it?"

"Mom," Katie rolled her eyes as she slapped her forehead. "I told you before and it was proven to you, that there was no axe murderer in this hotel!"

"You never know, it could happen for real." Mrs. Knight turned and started to walk away and stepped over Carlos again. "Hey, what happened to him?" she asked as she looked down at him. "Carlos, are you ok?" she asked as she lifted him to his feet.

"I'm fine, mommy." Carlos replied as he stumbled around, his eyes rolling around in his head.

"I'm not your mother, dear," Mrs. Knight gave a half smile, sort of uncomfortable with the fact that his friends' son just called her his mother. "That must mean that he's fine." Her smile turned to a look of confusion as she turned and walked back into the bedroom.

"Ok, so I think we're all agreed that we're in on this plan and that we think it's going to work," Kendall stated as he stood up and started to pace. He wanted to feel like the leader and wasn't exactly comfortable with Riley going in and taking his place. He continued when everybody nodded in reply. "So, when do we move out?"

"Tomorrow, noon." Noah replied.

"Alright," Kendall nodded and stood straight up, slapping his arms down to his sides. "Are you troops ready to go out and to fight for our right to party?" he shouted like a general.

"Dude?" James looked over at him as he brushed his hair out of his face.

"Sorry, I've been listening to the 80s channel a lot lately," Kendall looked embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ok, let me try again." He cleared his throat and assumed the stance again. "Are you troops ready to go out and fight for the truth?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Camille shouted back in a voice so loud it caused Kendall to jump and everybody to look at her in shock. "What?" she crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "I was in a small part for a remake of the show M*A*S*H. But they ran out of guys."

* * *

"_Ok, is everybody ready to go?"_ Kendall's voice came out of the walkie talkie in Camille's hand.

Camille moved her walkie talkie up to her mouth and looked over at Carlos, Katie, and Sydney, who nodded and she gave the reply of a positive answer. All four of them were wearing black hats, sunglasses, black coats, white shirts, black ties, black pants, and black shoes. In other words, they wanted to look like limo drivers.

"_Good, so if my assumptions are correct, Gustavo should be getting ready to leave the studio. The first thing that you have to do is get him out of Rocque Records and away from the Palm Woods. Anything else you do after that is up to you."_

"Roger that," Camille replied and shoved the walkie talkie back into her pocket before turning to the other three. "We're ready to roll."

"Good, because here comes Gustavo," Katie replied as she pointed as the large man stormed through the large crowd that was in the front of Rocque Records. Kelly was right behind him. It was obvious that he was looking for the boys as he was swinging his head back and forth and yelling things like 'where are the dogs' and 'dogs come here' and stuff like that. "Let's go, people!"

She turned and almost walked into Carlos, who was making faces at his reflection. Sydney noticed too and raised an eyebrow when he saw what he was doing. "Uh, Carlos, what are you doing?"

"I can see my reflection in this glass and in my sunglasses," Carlos replied and laughed like a little school girl. "It's so cool."

"Focus, dag!" Noah snapped, raising his voice slightly above is soft drawl and shoved Carlos towards the driver's seat of the car.

"What's a dag?" Camille asked as she pulled her sunglasses away from her face.

"It's Australian for funny-looking-person." Noah explained quickly and shoved Carlos into the car. Katie looked over at him and Noah, out of nowhere, held up a sign that said 'No, It's Not' in big blue letters and she laughed a little big before clearing her throat and standing straight up. Noah and Camille moved next to her and assumed the same position.

"Gustavo Rocque?" Camille questioned in a low, raspy voice as he got closer.

Kelly and Gustavo looked at each other in confusion before they moved closer. "Yes, this is Gustavo," Kelly replied slowly as she motioned to him. "What's the limo for?"

"Why, to go to your meeting of course." Katie replied, deepening her voice also. It was the 'tough-voice' that she used whenever she and Kendall used to wrestle each other. They made up fake fighting names, and championships that they were going after to add ambience. She thought that the voice would be good for today.

"Yes," Noah agreed, making his voice sound like Patrick's. What Camille, Katie, and Carlos didn't know until earlier that day was that Patrick and Noah learned to impersonate and throw their voices at a young age, after being obsessed with trying to learn ventriloquism. Thus he was using his skill to make his voice sound like Patrick's. "Your meeting with a bunch of other musical executives."

"No, no," Kelly waved her hands in the air. "That meeting is at the Palm Woods." She explained with a strained smile. "Griffin wanted the boys to be there, they don't know that, because he wanted to tell them about their-"

"No, it's been moved." Camille interrupted loudly and started to push the two of them into the car. Noah and Katie grabbed the back doors and pulled them open. "And that's where we're taking you."

"All three of you?" Kelly asked in bewilderment.

"Four." Carlos spoke up from the front. Camille moved her hand across her throat, signaling him to be quiet. When they were trying to rebuild the guys' apartment, Kelly had immediately recognized his voice, and they didn't want that to happen today. Carlos must have gotten the hint because he closed his mouth and mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key.

"Do you really need so many people to-"

"Yes, we do!" Katie practically shouted.

"Ok, but get us there as fast as you can!" Gustavo demanded as Camille, Noah, and Katie got into the car.

Carlos smiled as he turned on the car, and rolled up the window partisan. He smiled as the car immediately turned on the 'auto pilot' option, which was to drive around the city as many times as they possible could before the gas runs out.

"This car is sweet." He muttered to himself as he kicked back and placed his hands behind his head.

* * *

"_Ok, I got word from Carlos that they have Kelly and Gustavo in the car,"_ Kendall's voice came out of the walkie talkie that was in Logan's hand. _"Now it's time for you guys to do your part."_

"Got it," Logan replied and turned off the walkie-talkie.

He, Rhuben, Patrick, and Sydney were standing in the fake plants in the Silver Spring lobby, and with the video camera that James, Kendall, and Riley had, and the live feed that it was giving to Sydney on his laptop, they would be able to tell when Robert was about to leave his apartment. He turned to Rhuben, Patrick, and Sydney, who was standing in front of him.

"So, what's the point of the point of the camouflage and the tree hats?" he asked as he pointed to the foliage that was on his head, an annoyed expression on his face. "Do we really need it?"

"Yes," Rhuben replied and then looked annoyed herself. "And that's only because Kendall, Riley, and James get to wear all black and use bandanas."

"Did you really want to use a bandana?"

"Yes!"

"Moving on," Sydney declared and sat down on the floor, Patrick, Rhuben, and Logan sat around him and watched as he turned on his computer, and typed something incredibly fast and incredibly complicated, and then a picture of a shaky video feed of Robert sitting in his office came up onto the computer screen.

Then James' face filled the screen. He made a funny face and wiggled his fingers around his head. _"Can you see me?"_ he asked.

"Yeah, we can see you loud and clear." Logan replied into the walkie talkie. "I still don't know if we should do this guys."

"_Just yesterday you were all for this,"_ Kendall reminded his friend as his face filled up the screen.

"Yeah, but now-"

"How about this," Kendall sounded impatient. _"If they even listen to me, I'll tell the Jennifers that you're a…bad boy, and then they'll probably date you. How's that?"_

"Go ahead with the plan." Logan replied quickly. Rhuben rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'boys always wanting to date pretty girls' under her breath. Patrick smirked but didn't say anything.

"Quick, he's getting ready to leave." The camera moved whirled around and pointed into Robert's office, where he was packing up a briefcase. Sydney nudged Rhuben and she quickly pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.

"No," Patrick grabbed the phone pressed 'END'. "You need to disguise your number." He explained when Rhuben glared at him and quickly punched something into the phone and handed it back. "Here. Now call."

"Thanks," Rhuben leaned over and looked at the computer screen and waited as she watched the picture. Robert grabbed the phone that was on his desk and yanked the phone off of the cradle.

"Hello?" he practically growled.

"Hello, this is…" Rhuben trailed off as she tried to think of a name. She looked over at Logan's tree hat and continued. "Holly from The Tribune and we heard a rumor that you have stolen a song from Gustavo Rocque. Is that true?"

On the laptop and over the phone, they could hear Robert chuckle and let out a breath. "No, that isn't true." He gave a snort. "As if I would steal a song from him." He put down the phone before Rhuben could say anything else and a dial tone buzzed in her ear.

"Keep trying." Sydney urged.

The camera swirled around to show Kendall's, Riley's, and James' faces. "Logan," Kendall gasped. "You have to do your Griffin impression."

"What?" Logan looked panicked. "No way!"

"Rhuben," James instructed. "Punch Logan in the stomach, or step on his foot."

"Sure." Rhuben, before Logan could move out of the way, jabbed her elbow into the side of her ribs as hard as she could.

"Ow!" Logan cried and Rhuben shoved her cell phone into his face.

"Hello?" a growl came out of the phone and Logan gasped before bringing it up to his face.

"Hello, this is Griffin, executive of the music industry of Rocque Records." Logan said, gasping for air, as he did his Griffin impression. "Now, I've caught wind that you went and have stolen a song from Gustavo Rocque and his boy band Big Time Rush." He cleared his throat and continued. "Now, I've become quite fond of the boys and-"

"I don't know what kind of lies that Gustavo has been telling you, but that isn't true." Robert lied smoothly. "I've written a new song for my kids, and I'm thinking that he's a little jealous because it's good and that he wished he wrote it. I wouldn't believe him if I were you, Griffin." He hung up the phone and started to move away again.

"He's leaving." Sydney hissed.

"Ok, let's try one more time." Patrick took out his phone, blocked the number, and called again. Robert made a sound of annoyance, he had little to no patience, and it was easy to see. Patrick cleared his throat and then when he started speaking; Logan was shocked to realize that it sounded like Gustavo.

"They learned to imitate people when they were four," Rhuben explained. "It's a long story."

"Rob," Patrick half-snapped, half-yelled. "I know that you stole my song and you admitted it! I'm going to go to every tabloid in the city and tell them what you've done!"

"Yes, I know I stole your song." Robert chuckled. "And now you're going to tell the tabloids. Do you really think that they're going to believe _you_?" Robert chuckled as he turned and looked out his office window. "Over me? Are you joking?" he laughed again. "Gustavo, buddy, give it up." Robert hung up the phone and left the room.

Sydney closed his laptop with a satisfied smile. "He, who laughs last, laughs best."

* * *

"Is the coast clear?" Riley asked James who was standing around the corner. She was kneeling by an air vent, unscrewing the screws that were around the vent cover. Kendall was standing above her, looking back and forth to make sure that no one got by James.

"I don't know," James replied as he rubbed his chin. "I was watching the weather channel this morning and they said that we're going to have a possible cloudy-"

"James," Kendall cut in as he placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Is there anybody coming?"

"Oh," James gave a charming smile. "No."

"Good," Riley pulled the cover off of the air vent and shined a flashlight into it. Kendall looked over at her and saw that the back of her shirt had risen up a little bit and that there was a nasty bruise on her lower back.

"Hey, how'd you get that bruise on your back?" he asked. Riley didn't looked away from the air vent.

"We were playing a game we made up called Baseball tag," Riley explained quickly, not looking at the two of them. "And when I was backing away, I crashed into a chair. She changed the subject. "We can get to my dad's office through here without being seen."

"How do you know that?" James asked.

"Because my siblings and I have been in here before." Riley replied and untied her bandana from around her forehead and tied it around her mouth. "Problem is, there's a lot of dust, so it's a good thing you had these bandanas."

"At least _someone_ appreciates them," James said and gave her a huge hug. "Thank you for believing in me."

"James, I can't breathe." Riley gasped and James let her go. "You got the camera?" she asked Kendall, who nodded and held it up. "Good, let's go." She crawled into the air vent and wiggled into the opening. James and Kendall followed her. Thankfully, the air vents were wide enough that the three of them were able to crawl side by side. "Alright, we're here." She stated after a few minutes of silence.

Kendall turned the camera on and pointed it at Robert as he walked around his office. They watched as he moved towards his desk and started to put things into his briefcase. After checking to see if Logan, Rhuben, Patrick, and Sydney could see them, the calls started to pour into the office. And the three of them watched as Robert got even more frustrated with each one.

Finally, when Patrick called and pretended to be Gustavo, they got the incrimination they needed on tape.

"Ok, let's go." Kendall turned off the camera and gave the two high-fives. They started to wiggle back out of the air vents, but James suddenly stopped. "James, buddy, what's wrong?" Kendall looked over at his friend and saw that his eyes were starting to close and that his nose was starting to scrunch up. "He's going to sneeze!"

Quickly, out of nowhere, Riley and Kendall held up signs that said 'Yipes' on it and then frantically tried to cover James' mouth. James let out a sigh and suddenly relaxed. They pulled their hands away and James suddenly let out a high pitched sneeze, right into Kendall's face.

"Hurry, I think dad may have heard you." Riley started to move out of the air vent as fast as she could. Kendall and James followed her and when they got out of the air vent they congratulated each other again. "C'mon, we have to get this tape to Gustavo."

* * *

"I THOUGHT IT TOLD YOU NOT TO DO ANY PLANS!" Gustavo shouted at the two bands, Camille, and Katie later that afternoon. They were all crowded into the recording studio "AND BECAUSE OF YOU, I MISSED MY MEETING!"

"It wasn't our plan," Carlos defended himself.

"It was the Jacksons'." James added.

"And you didn't miss your meeting," Rhuben continued with a smug look. "Griffin doesn't really listen to you anyway, so Noah went ahead with a conference call and impersonated you. The meeting went really well." She cleared her throat and looked at her feet when Gustavo glared at her. "You can see our notes later."

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight," Kelly held her hands up. "You guys," she motioned to the Jacksons. "Wanted to help these guys," she motioned to Big Time Rush. "And Gustavo so you went along to try and get your father to admit, on tape, that he stole the song from them?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Sydney nodded and then smiles so dimples appeared in his cheeks. "Apparently dad knows about it to, from an anonymous caller," Patrick gave a small wave. "And he's going to lodge a personal complaint tomorrow."

"Thank you." Gustavo gave a small smile, it faded almost instantly and he and Kelly walked out of the recording studio.

"Nice job, guys." Riley congratulated her siblings as she high-fived each of them.

"Thank you guys so much," Kendall stated as the four of them each shook the Jacksons' hands. "Without you guys, we wouldn't have been able to get this done."

"Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?" Katie asked as she rolled her eyes. "We helped too ya know?" she motioned to herself and Camille. "Without our help, you wouldn't have gotten this far."

"She's right," Patrick agreed and grinned. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Camille and Sydney exchanged knowing glances but didn't say anything.

"So, what do we have to do for you?" Kendall asked after a moment of silence. "You know, because you guys helped us prove that your dad did steal our song?"

"Oh, we never mentioned that?" Rhuben sounded shocked. She and her siblings exchanged sly glances.

"Yeah, you didn't," Logan replied, feeling as if he was being left out of a joke. "So, what do you want us to do?"

"We want you to help us make a music video." Riley replied.

* * *

**A/N: and there you have it, another long chapter. 14 pages in Microsoft word. I think I'm getting good at writing long and humorous chapters. So, what do you guys think so far? What was your favorite part of the chapter? Constructive Criticism is welcome. Thanks for reading.**


	8. Big Time Sight Seeing

**.:****Chapter Eight – Big Time Sight Seeing****:.**

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The next few days has the Jacksons and Big Time Rush working on a music video for the Jacksons, behind their manager's backs. And that was for two reasons, one; they all knew that Gustavo would kill Big Time Rush if he knew what they were doing. Two; it was because it wasn't a song that Robert liked. He didn't want the Jacksons to break out of the pop-rock mold, and the song that they were making a music video for was much, much darker than the songs that he actually let them record.

From what Big Time Rush could tell, the song and video was about a teenager that wanted to break away from its parents.

But what it really was was a song that held the message that the Jacksons were getting abused. It was a desperate plea for help, and they hoped that anyone would be able to figure out what they were trying to say and help them.

They were too terrified to tell anyone themselves, as they knew what their father would do, and they knew what would happen if Robert was sent to jail, so they just take it and wait and prey that it would all be over soon.

* * *

"Here sweetie, I washed your clothes for you," Mrs. Knight stated one afternoon as she walked into apartment 2J, where the boys were currently playing a game of air hockey. She walked over to Kendall and placed a large pile of clothes into his hands. "And I even used the special softener for your delicates."

"Thanks." Kendall blushed and quickly walked over to his bedroom to get rid of the clothes as his friends laughed at him. Mrs. Knight smiled and went to start making lunch. "I'm bored, what do you guys want to do?"

"I don't know," James replied as he shot his arm forward, shooting the puck into the goal. He cheered as Logan frowned, muttering something about geometry under his breath. He grabbed the puck, placed it back on the table and started the game again. "You guys could help me make some more headshots."

"Ok!" Carlos put on his helmet, slapped it twice, and let out a scream before tackling James to the ground. Katie, who was sitting at the kitchen table, typing away on a laptop, jumped when they hit the floor and started to shout at each other as they play fought.

"Do you see what I have to deal with when you're not around?" Katie asked as her mother turned to see what was going on. She rolled her eyes. "Thank god I have an audition today."

"Oh really?" Kendall asked as he walked over to his sister and purposely messed up her hair. "What's it for this time? And what happened with the commercial with lacrosse?" Katie stuck her tongue out at him and

"The same thing that happened when she actually played it." Mrs. Knight replied. Kendall sucked in a breath and winced when he thought about it. Mrs. Knight nodded in agreement and went back to the stove. When he was sure his mother was out of ear shot, Kendall turned back to his sister with a raised hand.

"Nice," he laughed as Katie gave him a high-five. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks." Katie beamed back in reply, happy that she had gotten her brother's praise. Lately she had started to feel a little left out because her brother was always with his friends, or just goofing off in general. They hadn't really had anytime to themselves in a while.

"I heard that." Mrs. Knight called from the stove.

"Seriously guys, what do you want to do?" Kendall asked as he turned back to his friends. "I'm bored!"

"We could go to the pool and hit on the Jennifers" James suggested as he pushed Carlos off of him. He stood up and pulled a compact mirror out of his pocket and quickly checked his hair, brushing some out of his face. Logan, Carlos, and Kendall rolled their eyes and Kendall waited until he had James' full attention before replying.

"Nah," he shook his head. "We do that every day."

"I hope that you treat them with respect," Mrs. Knight called from the stove.

"We don't do any less, Mama Knight." Logan called back sweetly. Kendall raised an eyebrow and widened his eyes slightly as he looked over at his friend and Logan just shrugged in reply.

"We could mess with Gustavo, you know, see how mad he gets before he tries to run us down" Carlos suggested.

Kendall shook his head at that idea too. "Nah, I don't think I want to give him a heart attack yet." He made a face and lightly touched his ear lobes. "Besides, my ears have finally stopped ringing and I don't want them to start again."

"Then what do you want to do?" Logan asked, sounding a little annoyed. "Because you're shooting down all of our suggestions."

"How about," Kendall rubbed his chin as he turned his back to the others, rubbing his chin. Looking around the apartment, he thought about what had happened when they first arrived at the Palm Woods and how excited they were to be in LA. A face-splitting grin slid onto his face and he whirled back around, his green eyes flashing with excitement. "How about…" he trailed off to create suspense. "We go sightseeing! And start searching!"

"Oh, we can see the Hollywood Stars." Logan agreed with a warm smile.

"Can't you just wait until night time and then look at the sky?" James asked as he looked confused. Logan looked like he wanted to say something, but then slapped a hand over his face and shook his head, refusing to say anything.

"So, let's go now!" Carlos looked excited. "We have nothing else to do right now anyway."

"Mom, Katie, do you guys want to come?" Kendall asked.

"I would," Katie sighed and looked disappointed. "But like I said, I have that audition to go to. But have fun." She turned back to her computer and started to type again. Kendall could tell that she was trying to act like she didn't care that they were going to have a good time.

"Hey, I'll bring you something back." He promised.

"Don't act all mushy, I'm going to see you later." Katie replied simply before closing the computer and disappeared into the bedroom that she and her mother shared.

"Right." Kendall turned back to his friends. "Let's go!"

"Just one thing you forgot, fearless leader," Logan stated in a mocking tone. "How are we going to get into the city?"

Kendall merely smiled.

* * *

"When I thought of sightseeing around LA, I thought that we would be in a limo," James complained. "_Not_ in a bus filled with tourists!"

He shouted the last part of the sentence so loud that everybody turned and glared at him. James smiled sweetly in reply and jumped up from his seat. "Name's James Diamond," he stated as he started to hand out pictures to whoever would take one. "Upcoming Popstar. Soon you're going to see my name in lights."

"James, sit down and stop embarrassing us!" Kendall, Logan, and Carlos harmonized as they grabbed their friend and forced them back down into his seat.

"Can't you at least _pretend_ to be normal until our stop?" Logan asked as he slowly sunk down in his seat, hiding his face.

"Hey, I'm just trying to get our name out there," James defended. "And the only way to do that is by putting out pictures of me. Because I _am_ the one that draws in a lot of girls."

"Yeah right." His friends harmonized again and then got up as the bus crept up to the curb, right where their stop was. They climbed off and coughed and choked as they waved their hands in front of their faces, bus exhaust fumes blowing into their faces.

"Somehow I thought that the air in LA would be much…cleaner." Carlos muttered as he coughed a little bit more.

"Look at the sky," Logan replied dryly. "This is probably the smoggiest place in the US. Speaking of which, did you know-"

"I probably didn't," James interrupted. "But that doesn't mean that I want to know."

"Haha." Logan rolled his eyes. "What do you guys want to do first?"

"If it were me, I'd suggest you go to Dodgers Stadium, or Chinatown, or Hollywood?"

Big Time Rush turned around and weren't surprised to see the Jacksons standing behind them. They were all in shorts, flip-flops, and wearing sunglasses.

"Hi guys," Sydney greeted cheerfully as he took a sip of the smoothie that was in his hands. "Do you have the day off too?"

"Yeah, apparently Gustavo has something that he has to do with his cat?" Carlos replied as if he wasn't sure. Rhuben snorted.

"If you can call that hairless rat a cat," Riley muttered as he hand slowly tightened into a fist.

"Don't worry about her," Patrick staged whispered. "She kind of has a _fear_ of cats."

"I do not!" Riley replied and lightly kicked him in the back.

"Oh yeah," he turned to face her with a wide, cheeky smile. "Then why did you run away that one time we went over to Griffin's house?"

"Hey, that's a Liger!" Riley looked annoyed as she shoved her finger into Patrick's face. "As in a Lion and a Tiger, and it was looking at me funny. If you were m, you'd probably run away too!"

"Anyway," Rhuben jumped into the conversation, leaving the two of them two argue about whether or not Riley actually _was_ afraid of cats. "We were just headed over to Dodgers Stadium," she raised and lowered one shoulder. "Riley's a huge baseball fan, almost as huge of a fan that we are for hockey. Do you wanna come with?"

"We were going to look for the Hollywood stars." James replied.

"It's one of the places that we were going to go today anyway," Noah spoke up with a soft smile. "I mean, what's the point of having a day off if you don't actually go anywhere?"

"He has a point." Logan agreed.

"Sure, why not." Kendall agreed in a carefree manner. He paused for a second. "But how are we going to get around? Because I don't know about you guys," he looked around at his friends. "But I don't plan on getting in one of those buses again. Especially when the passengers looked like they were going to eat us alive."

"There's only one way to go through LA and sight see," Riley said, pausing long enough from her argument with Patrick to listen to their conversation. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, opened it, pushed a button, said something into the phone, and snapped it shut again. "And that's in style." She turned and pointed up the street where a limo was slowly driving towards them.

"Whoa, how'd you hook this up?"Carlos asked as he looked over at it.

"It's Ronan's, he let us borrow if for the day," Patrick replied and then looked at Big Time Rush with an expression of distaste. "But I can tell you one thing, we're going to the mall first. We need to go shopping."

"For what?" Carlos questioned.

"For you," Rhuben replied and raised her eyebrows. "I don't know if you've realized it or not, but you guys aren't in Minnesota anymore and those long sleeves are just going to make you fry."

Twenty minutes later, Big Time Rush was walking out of the mall with clothes that were more suited for the warm weather and even they had to admit that it was better than what they had worn before. Kendall, keeping with his 'comfy casual' look is wearing a black fedora on his head, a gray t-shirt, and brown cargo shorts. Logan is keeping to his 'smart style' and is wearing a white button down with a tie over it, and gray shorts. James is still going with his 'hot and happening' style with a new v-neck, this time in blue and white shorts. And true to his hockey helmet, Carlos went along with his 'sporty-cheerful' style and is wearing a Minnesota Wild hockey t-shirt (you can find practically any team sport shirt in the mall) and blue and white plaid shorts.

"That's much better." Patrick agreed with a nod.

"I really like it," Logan stated as he spread his arms and looked at himself. "Good enough to go on a red carpet even."

"And to get some girls." Carlos agreed and smiled flirtatiously at a couple of blondes that walked by. Riley and Rhuben rolled their eyes but it didn't bother them much as they were used to it. But, surprisingly, Carlos was actually smiled at as they walked by. "Why didn't I think of changing my style earlier?"

"Because you didn't have me around to help," Riley replied smugly, as she was generally the one that picked out all of the clothes that they were wearing. She nudged her sister. "Besides, a girls' touch isn't that bad every once in a while."

"Thank You" the boys chorused.

"You're welcome." Rhuben pushed her sunglasses back onto her nose. "Now, let's go."

The DarkElements and Big Time Rush spent the whole afternoon with a tour of the Dodgers Stadium (which Riley was ecstatic about), the Getty Center Museum (where everybody but Logan was bored to death), China Town for an early lunch, and then off to Lego Land and Disney Land in the early evening, much to Sydney's, James', and Carlos' happiness. As they were out, The DarkElements and even Big Time Rush were getting asked to give out autographs, much to the guys' disbelief. They had only done one concert, which was in the mall, and now they already had fans.

By the time they had gotten to Hollywood Boulevard to see the Hollywood Stars, all of them were exhausted and tired of walking. Rhuben had been taking pictures all day, and Sydney had been videotaping a few things to put it onto their website/blog.

Currently, they were walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard. Well, Big Time Rush were, the Jacksons were sitting on a park bench, their feet aching.

"Oh my gosh!" Carlos shouted from one end of the street.

"What?" Kendall asked, looking over at him. "They have one for Paula Abdul!" As Kendall and James rushed over to it to get a picture, Logan continued strolling along the street until he saw a star that caught his own eye.

"Oh my gosh!" he shouted, imitating Carlos. He grinned like a kid who had just gotten a big basket of candy, and started to jump up and down, pointing at the star. "It's for Thomas Edison!"

Nobody but Sydney moved or batted an eye. "Ooh, let me see!" he cried as he climbed down from the bench and ran over. Logan sighed and shook his head when he saw that no one else was interested. "It's hard being smart isn't it?"

"You can say that again."

Riley gave a soft smile and stiffened when she heard sirens. Whipping her head around, she saw a police squad car, an ambulance, and a fire truck go racing by.

_The crying of a baby echoed throughout a house in flames. A young boy was running desperately trying to find his family. A young girl was hiding in her closet, choking on smoke, terrified. She didn't know what happened, one minute she was playing around with her parents' lighter and the next; there was a huge flame in front of her face._

_Scared, she turned and fled the living room and dove into her closet, the one place that she went to when she was sad, mad, and scared._

_Her eldest brother, the young boy, ran into the nursery and saw their baby brother lying on his stomach, crying hard. He was also very terrified and choking on the smoke that was filling the house. The young boy took the baby from his cradle. "Calm down, everything's okay." He tried to calm him down, rocking him lightly as he got out of the room._

"_Rhuben? Noah? Patrick? Riley? Where are you?"_

"Riley….Riley….Ri! Riles!"

"Huh?" Riley blinked and turned towards James, who was nudging her shoulder. Involuntarily, she flinched horribly and roughly pushed him away from her. "I'm fine." She stated quickly as she stood up and looked at her watch.

"Are you sure?" Kendall asked, looking concerned. "Because you kind of zoned out there."

"Yeah, I'm good." She looked apologetic. "I just don't like to be touched." She looked at her watch again. "It's getting late, we should go."

"Ok."

The Jacksons turned around and quickly walked back to the limo as Big Time Rush slowly trailed behind them. They were each thinking about different parts of their day, but James was a little worried as to why Riley had zoned out and reacted so badly, when she had been able to stand him hugging her before.

He may be stupid sometimes, but James knows when something is wrong with someone.

* * *

**A/N: This is a shorter chapter compared to the other ones that I have put up, but I still think that it was a good one. What did you guys think? I think I especially like to write Carlos and James in this story.**


	9. Big Time Talk Show

**.:****Chapter Nine – Big Time Talk Show****:.**

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"We're going to be on Good Day LA?" The boys cried in unison as their mouths dropped open. Gustavo smiled back at them as he nodded.

After Robert made a public announcement of stealing his song in a press junket, Gustavo has been really happy. He even went out and got the guys a gig to be on a TV new show to talk about their band and how they were going to do a few more mall concerts and if the interest was there they would start touring different venues in California.

"Yeah, you're going to be on it tomorrow." Kelly replied with a smile as wide as Gustavo's. "Now, you may be asked to show a little bit of what you're working on, so you guys really need to practice today. You're going on tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" James repeated with a little shriek as he clamped his hands onto his hair. "I can't get my hair to be perfect by tomorrow. I need the rest of _today_ to do that!"

"Too bad!" Gustavo shouted. "You're practicing for the rest of today, you need to go into _that _recording studio and practice your harmonies." He pointed to the sound booth that was across from him.

"But why do we need to record-"

"NOW!!!!"

Kendall, James, Logan, and Carlos started to babble words of excitement and fear as they pushed and shoved each other into the sound booth. For the next six hours they practiced the songs _Big Time Rush, Any Kind of Guy, Famous, _and _The City is Ours_ nonstop just so they were sure that they were ready for the TV show the next day.

It was only on the way back to the Palm Woods did Logan suddenly get extremely nervous.

"Uh, guys," he stammered as he stopped walking. Everybody looked at him with raised eyebrows. Logan's face was ashen and it looked like he was going to pass out at any minute. "You do know that we're going on a _talk show_ right?"

"Yeah." Carlos replied with a nod.

"And that we have to talk, right?"

"That's pretty much the basis of a talk show, Logie." Kendall pointed out and then furrowed his eyebrows together. "What's really bothering you?"

"Well, what if they ask a really personal question?" Logan's voice cracked at the end so it went extremely high-pitched. "What will I do if they ask me what my most embarrassing moment was?"

"Easy," James shrugged. "Tell them this was." He took a step forward and grasped onto Logan's jeans before tugging them down around his ankles. Logan was frozen for a second, staring at the duck printed boxers that he was wearing before quickly yanking them back up and glaring at James, a vein throbbing in his neck as the pretty-boy smiled cheerfully. "You're going to kill me aren't you?"

"Yep." Logan simply replied the one syllable before chasing James down the street as Carlos and Kendall burst out laughing and high-fived each other.

"Do you think Logan's right?" Carlos asked as the two slowly followed their friends.

"About what?" Kendall asked and the snorted as he rolled his eyes. "That the talk show hosts may ask us a question that we're not comfortable with? Yeah, like _that's_ going to happen." He put his arm around Carlos' shoulders and lightly patted his helmet. "Carlos, you and I both know that Logan is nothing but a worrier. Besides, if anyone gets asked a question we don't know how to answer, the rest of us will back them up. Because that's what friends are for."

"Right," Carlos grinned in agreement. "And we're going to keep each other from getting too into the fame. Especially James."

"Right." Kendall confirmed and then sighed as he dropped his arm, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Now, I'm thinking that we should hurry and get back to the hotel, I think that by now Logan would have caught James and is actually killing him right now."

Carlos laughed in agreement and the two hurried over to the Palm Woods just in time to see Logan and James roll towards the manager's desk, locked in a play fight, everyone around just went about their business, used to the four guys fighting.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bitters, the Palm Woods manager, shouted as he slapped his hands on the desk. "No fighting in my lobby! Haven't you seen the board?" he pointed over to one of the many white boards that had the 'official Palm Woods' Rules', and coincidentally there _was_ a board that said 'NO FIGHTING IN THE LOBBY'.

Logan shot James a glare and got up off of the floor, brushing off his sweater vest. He cleared his throat as he adjusted his collar. "Unlike _you_," he shot a smug look over to James who was busy brushing his hair out of his face, and looking and his reflection in a compact. "I know when to worry about other people's feelings."

"How's my hair?" James asked as he jumped to his feet. "Is it ok?"

"And clearly that was lost on you." Logan rolled his eyes.

"Well you know James," Carlos sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Shove a mirror into his face and he doesn't care about anything else."

"Yeah, he-"Kendall stopped talking and shot his hand out into the air. Before Logan's, Carlos', and James' eyes widened in shock and impression when they saw that Kendall had grabbed Camille's hand out of the air so she wouldn't slap him. "Hey Camille." He greeted as he gently lowered her arm. "I thought that you were babysitting Katie."

"I was," Camille replied with a shrug and a sigh as she twirled a piece of her brown hair around her finger. "But your sister is _very_ sneaky and before I knew it, she was out by the pool hustling Gordy out of his money."

"Gordy?" James repeated.

"He's the maintenance guy," Camille explained and then turned back to Kendall. "Apparently your mother thought that he was some kind of axe maniac."

"Yeah she just got over that, so I don't think that it would be a good idea to tell her that Katie was gambling again." Kendall replied as he made a face. "Especially with him."

"Good point." Camille agreed. "Besides, your mom came back home a few minutes ago, I think that job hunting was a success for her this time."

"That's good to hear." Kendall replied.

He, like the rest of his friends, was kind of confused. Normally at this point she would have rushed over to Logan and told him that something about his body was hot and that she wanted to make out with him and that she wanted to be his girlfriend. In other words, she would be stalking him relentlessly. But today she seemed to be pretty calm, and held back. And this caused Logan to be paranoid, so of course he had to go and ask what was wrong.

"Uh Camille," Logan started slowly, as he took a small, tentative step forward. "Not that I actually enjoy it or anything, but why aren't you…asking me out on a date or something?"

"Oh my god," Camille slowly started to smile as she held a hand over her mouth. Carlos started to giggle a little bit, and James grinned, knowing what was going to happen next. Logan was the only one that looked a little bit confused over what Camille was smiling about. "Logan? Are you asking me out?"

"What?" Logan looked panicked as he looked towards his friends for help. "No! I-"he stopped when he saw the signs that his friends were holding up.

Kendall's read 'DON'T'

James' read 'BE'

Carlos' read 'A WUSS'

And they all had large grins on their faces. Logan made a face of disgust and growled a little bit under his breath, the vein popping out on his neck again. "Oh thanks, guys." He sighed and turned back to Camille. "Camille, look-"

"I would _love_ to go out with you, Logan!" Camille squealed as she launched herself onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. "I can't wait!" she pulled back a little bit and kissed Logan right on the lips, leaving behind a red lipstick mark. "I'll see you later!"

Camille let go of Logan, flounced across the hotel, and then grabbed onto the Jennifers as they passed by and announced her date with Logan, and ran off to find someone else to tell her good news to.

"I, but, uh" Logan took a deep breath before turning back to his friends, who had gotten rid of the signs that they were holding. "_What just happened_?"

"I don't know," James sighed happily as he put an arm around Logan's shoulders. "But it seems to me that you have a hot date with Camille tonight."

"So, what are you going to wear?" Carlos asked and then looked thoughtful. "Because, I don't think I've ever seen you out on a date before."

"Shut up!" Logan snapped and shoved his friend off of him. His cheeks were tinged pink and his eyes were wide, still trying to figure out what had happened.

"Logan and Camille sitting in a tree!" James, Carlos, and Kendall started to sing. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Don't you think you're a little too old to be singing nursery rhymes like that?" Logan asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Nope." Kendall smirked and then continued singing. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage."

"Are you done?"

"Almost."

At that point, Kendall, James, and Carlos jumped towards their friend, completely invading his personal bubble and started to make kissing noises around his ears. Logan was completely embarrassed now, as his face was beet red and he was trying not to scream at his friends to leave him alone.

"I have two questions," Mrs. Knight stated as she walked over to the four boys, an eyebrow arched and a confused/interested look on her face as she glanced over at her son. "What are you doing? And should I be worried?"

"Hey," Kendall walked over this mom and gave her a quick hug. "No, you shouldn't be worried." He chuckled a little bit so his dimple appeared in his cheek. "How was job hunting?"

"Great," Mrs. Knight smiled warmly in reply. "I think that I've found a really good place to work, great hours and good people." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I made Camille her permanent babysitter for when you're working and not in school."

"You heard about her hustling Gordy out of his money?" Kendall questioned.

"Of course I did," Mrs. Knight agreed. "I'm a mom, I know everything that goes on with my children." She smiled at Logan, Carlos, and James, who smiled back. Back in Minnesota the guys were always at her house, and here in LA, it was the same, so she felt as if she was a mother to all of them. She sighed and looked at her watch. "I got away from the interview early enough to go grocery shopping. Because with four teenage guys around I'm going to need to keep the refrigerator full." She added with a laugh as she pulled a check book out of her hand.

Kendall took a step back and took a good look at his mother. She looked tired, more so than usual and Kendall sort of felt bad. He didn't really ask her about how the move was going to affect her, and now he could see that she was really tied. No doubt from trying to find a job, taking care of her children, and then take care of his friends too. She didn't have to do that, and she never complained, as she was the type of mom that would take care of anyone whenever they got sick. She was a worrier when it came to children in general and liked to feel needed. But there had to be a time where moms were able to relax and Kendall was going to give his mom one.

"You know what, mom?" he took the check book. "I'll do the shopping."

"Are you feeling ok?" Mrs. Knight asked as she pressed a hand to her sons' forehead. "You haven't gone shopping since you were ten and realized that you weren't allowed to ride in the cart anymore."

"I know," Kendall looked a little embarrassed as he felt his friends' eyes on him. "But you haven't had a proper break in a long time, and I want to give you one." He toyed with the checkbook in his hands. "So, I'll do the grocery shopping."

"Well, alright," Mrs. Knight hesitated before taking the checkbook back from him. "I'm not sure how they would respond to you writing a check, being so young, so here's some money, which should cover it." She handed Kendall six twenty dollar bills. "And the store is in walking distance." She smiled and stroked Kendall's cheek.

Kendall's smile faded and an embarrassed one took its place as his friends laughed at him, and started to call him names like 'mama's boy.' Logan especially, just to get back at Kendall for what he had done before.

"Thanks sweetie."

"You're welcome," Kendall ducked his head, shoved the money into his pocket, and started to walk to the grocery store. He found it pretty easily, as there were a lot of people walking down the street from the store with grocery bags in hand. "Must be a sale or something." He murmured to himself before grabbing a cart and throwing things into it.

Kendall didn't really know what he was doing; he was just grabbing food that he had seen his mom get, and some extra junk food that he knew that his sister and friends would be happy with. It was when he was looking for the dinosaur chicken nuggets (he knew James and Carlos would kill him if he hadn't gotten it) that he had crashed into someone else's cart as they were turning into the frozen food aisle.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Kendall apologized quickly.

"Hey hockey-head," Riley greeted carelessly, hunched over the handle of her cart as she backed up a little bit and into the aisle that Kendall was standing in. Sydney was sitting inside of the basket, reading the ingredients to a box of pasta. "So, how is it every time one of us goes somewhere we're always bumping into you or your friends?"

"Hockey-head?" Kendall repeated as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you're obsessed with hockey," Riley replied as she pulled open a freezer door and grabbed a large container of ice cream. "You talk about it all time. So the nickname is very fitting." She carelessly dropped the ice cream into the cart.

"Watch it!" Sydney cried as it almost hit his head. He blinked and smiled up at Kendall. "Hi Kendall, how's it going?"

"Not bad." Kendall replied with a shrug. "I wanted to give my mom the day off so I offered to go shopping." He explained. "Other than that, I'm sure that everyone is a little nervous. We're going on a talk show tomorrow."

"Is it Good Day LA by any chance?" Riley asked as she brushed her hair out of her face and placed a hand on her hip.

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Kendall asked as he turned his attention back to her. Riley cocked an eyebrow, with a hint of a smile.

"Our managers are rivals" she explained slowly, as if talking to a two year old. "So it wouldn't surprise me if dad heard that he was planning of putting you guys on a talk show, and putting us both on it."

"We're going on it tomorrow" Sydney explained.

"How was that public announcement by the way?" Kendall asked as he ignored Sydney, adopting Riley's cool tone, slightly annoyed. "I hope your father didn't blow a blood vessel with how much he would hate to do that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sydney looked up at his sister and could tell from the way that she was holding onto the handle that she was starting to get ticked off.

"I'm not saying anything," Kendall replied defensively. "I'm just trying to defend me and my friends from even more misfortune that could possibly happen." He raised his eyebrows. "I mean, who knows. Maybe tomorrow your dad will go with you on the show and try to take some of our answers to the questions that we're asked."

"I told you before that we didn't know what our dad was up to," Riley practically hissed as her eyes narrowed. As a nervous habit, she brushed her hair out of her face again. Kendall's eyes drifted over to Riley's eye and he noticed that there was now a light purple spot where she it had just been the same shade as the rest of her skin. "And you can-"

"Ri-Ri!" Sydney cut in, looking alarmed. Riley looked over at him and he mimed rubbing his forehead. Riley must have understood what he was trying to tell her because she clammed up and started to walk off with the cart again.

"Look, I'm sorry." Kendall apologized as he ran up behind her. "It's just; I didn't think that anything like that would happen when we're just starting out."

"Well, welcome to the real world." Riley replied.

"Why are you acting like this?" Kendall questioned. "I thought we were friends."

"We're acquaintances," Riley denied as she started walking again. Sydney waved at Kendall as he was pushed away. "Our dad doesn't let us have friends." She added before disappearing from sight.

Kendall shrugged and went back to his cart.

_Our dad doesn't let us have friends_...

That had to have been the strangest thing that he had ever heard in his life.

* * *

"This is Good Day LA and we just so _happen_ to have the upcoming boy band Big Time Rush with us today," the host said as he gave a smile to the camera and turned to the four boys that were sitting in chairs next to him. "Good to have you here, boys."

"Thanks for having us." James smiled in reply.

"There's just something that I promised I would say to my family if I ever made it on TV," Carlos stated as he stood up and looked right into the face of the camera. "Hi mom." His friends looked embarrassed as Carlos sat back down and folded his arms over his chest, looking content.

"So tell us your story," the host urged. "How did you get here to LA?"

"Well, James has always wanted to be famous." Logan explained as he rolled his eyes, gently shoving his friend in the shoulder. "He was always taking vocal lessons, he was always going to auditions, he was in all of the musicals at school, and has always had an obsession with Nicole from the Pussy Cat Dolls." He cleared his throat and continued. "So, one day Gustavo came over to Minnesota looking for the next thing. We took him there and each took turns auditioning, except Kendall. And at first they didn't like Kendall, but they liked Kendall because he had 'the fire'" he used air quotes around the words. "But then Kendall convinced them to take him and his friends to LA because he wouldn't go without us and that's where we are now."

"Yeah," Kendall agreed with a large smile. "I won't do anything without my friends."

"Now, I understand that you came over here with your mother and sister" the host stated as he turned to Kendall. His smile faded slightly, as if he knew what he was going to be asked.

"That's right." He confirmed with a nod.

"So, what happened to your father?" the host asked and then quickly continued when he sensed a demeanor change in Kendall. "I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

Kendall stayed silent for a second as he thought about it. Up until now he hadn't thought about his father, not once. He thought about how much fun he was having with his friends, he thought about how his mother was doing more than she should to keep everybody happy, he even thought about how much fun that Katie was having and how much she supported him.

But not once did he ever think about his dad.

When he realized that he had stayed silent for a little too long, he cleared his throat and sat up straight in his chair. He clasped his hands in front of him and looked over at the host seriously.

"No comment." He replied.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to show a bit of Kendall's relationship with his estranged father. I mean, I've showed it in my one-shots 'Comfort' and 'Father Figure' but I wanted to add a bit of it into this chapter too. I also wanted to show how Kendall and Riley get along, as they sort of have the same personality and for some people that causes for some arguments. Next chapter is going to focus on Logan, and then after that is James, and then after that Carlos.**

**PS- I named the maintenance guy Gordy because I noticed in the episode 'Big Time Bad Boy' that the guy that plays Gordy on Ned' Declassified School Survival Guide plays the maintenance guy.**

**PPS- And just so you guys know, the only romance that's going to be in this story is a PatrickxKatiexNoah love triangle kind of thing. But it's not the basis of the whole story.  
**

**I hope you guys are enjoying this story. ^-^**

**-Riley/Half of DarkElements10**


	10. Big Time Freedom

**.:****Chapter Ten – Big Time Freedom****:.**

**

* * *

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"Would someone please _shut off_ that _stupid_ alarm?"

Rhuben let out a frustrated groan as she opened her eyes, searching for her clock. She reached a hand out of her warm covers and slapped around her desk for it, and then let out a tired, yet triumphant, laugh as she slammed her fist down onto it, silencing the little sucker.

She laid back down, her head pounding and her ribs aching.

"What time is it?" Riley asked from across the room that they shared. Rhuben forced her eyes open again and looked at the clock.

"It's 10:25." She replied and then closed her eyes and lay down again. Only a few seconds had gone by before Riley sat up, looking frantic.

"Shit!" she cried.

"What?" Rhuben practically growled, annoyed that she wasn't getting enough sleep.

"We overslept!" Riley replied as she threw back her covers and practically fell out of bed. Rhuben pushed herself up and opened her eyes wide, turning to the clock as if she was praying that the clock was wrong. Seeing that Riley was right, she let out a curse and jumped out of bed. "I'll start breakfast." Riley cried as she raced off to the kitchen.

"I'll get the guys up." Rhuben agreed and raced out of the room into her brother's bedroom. When she opened the door, Sydney woke up almost immediately, being an extremely light sleeper. He looked at her groggily and must have noticed the expression on her face as he suddenly became alarmed.

"What is it?"

"We overslept." Rhuben replied and then strode over to Patrick's and Noah's bunk beds. She reached up onto the top bunk and shook Noah's shoulder. "Hey, wake up, we overslept."

"Ok." He sighed in reply, not moving that fast.

Rhuben leaned down and shook Patrick's shoulder, but he slept soundly. Annoyed, Rhuben reached out a foot and pushed his back, knocking him to the floor. "What did you do that for?" he demanded as he climbed off of the floor, his spikes pushed down against his forehead.

"We overslept." Rhuben replied. "And you know what dad's gonna do if we don't get to the studio soon." She added.

"Right," Patrick vaulted over his bed, keeping his head low so he wouldn't hit the top bunk, and ran out of the room. Noah and Sydney were close to follow and Rhuben hurried back to her room to get dressed, already smelling breakfast getting made.

Rhuben pulled open her closet and looked around for a minute before grabbing a black hoodie vest, a purple t-shirt, dark blue skinny jeans, black vans with purple laces, and a black and white knit hat. She quickly pulled on her clothes and rolled on deodorant, and then went to the kitchen to see if Riley needed help with breakfast. Along the way, she was stopped by Sydney, who was banging on the bathroom door and shouting as he hopped up and down.

"What's wrong?" Rhuben asked as she watched Sydney jump up and down urgently.

"I have to go to the bathroom and Patrick won't let me in." he replied in a whiny tone. Rhuben placed her ear against the door and heard shower water running. Annoyed, she slammed her fist on the bathroom door.

"Patrick!" she shouted loud enough for him to hear over the water. "Sydney has to go and you're the one that takes the longest showers. You don't want him to pee on the floor, do you?"

"I don't know," Patrick's voice replied, and Rhuben could practically see the cheeky smile on his face. "Who's going to clean it up?"

"You will!" Rhuben waited for a second, listening, and then heard the sound of the lock opening.

"Thank god!" Sydney cried and pushed open the bathroom door and hurried inside, closing it behind him.

"You can go to the bathroom just as long as you don't-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Sydney scurried out of the bathroom, giggling his head off as Patrick's screams filled the air. Apparently he was getting ready to tell Sydney not to flush, but with the evil glint in Sydney's eyes, Rhuben could tell that he had ignored his brother on purpose and had flushed to get back at him for taking so long. Rhuben chuckled to herself, giving a brief smile, before walking into the kitchen, watching as Riley frantically ran back and forth to different pots and pans burning on the stove, the toaster, and the microwave.

"Help?" Rhuben questioned calmly.

"Yes, please." Riley replied, turning around when she heard her sister. "What?" she asked when she saw the fake-shocked look on her twin's face.

"Who are you and what have you done with Riley?" Rhuben joked as her lips curled into a smirk. "Usually you go as far as you can to disaster, refusing for help, before you realize that you finally need it. Why the change?"

"I pulled the stick out of my ass," Riley replied and then glared a little bit. "Where could I have possibly heard that?"

"Patrick said it first." Noah replied quickly as he strode into the kitchen. Rhuben reached out and grabbed the black hat that was on his head, turned it backwards, and then placed it back down.

"Seriously though, you two need to finish breakfast while I get dressed." Riley stated as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Alright." Noah and Rhuben replied in unison as Riley scurried off to hers and Rhuben's shared bedroom. Rhuben waited until she was out of the room before turning back to Noah.

"Just to make sure this is real; I'm going to put some hot sauce in her milk." She said and Noah chuckled a little bit before going over to the stove to save the scrambled eggs that looked like they were about to get burned. "Ugh," Rhuben made a face as she stood over something on the stove that had turned black. "Do you know what I really miss right now?"

"The use of a garbage disposal?"

"No," Rhuben stuck out her tongue. "Our pets, because they would eat anything." She turned, picking up the pan along the way, and scraped the trash into the trashcan.

"Yuck, what was that?" Sydney asked as he jumped into the kitchen, hopping up and down on one foot as he tied his shoes. He stood up straight, his nose wrinkled. "It smells disgusting."

"It _looks_ disgusting." Patrick agreed as he walked into the kitchen and peered into the trashcan. "Is that what we were going to eat? I hope Riley didn't make that."

"She did." Rhuben replied as she rolled her eyes.

"So far, the only thing that we can eat really fast and still be on time is this toast, some pieces of bacon, and these scrambled eggs." Noah replied as he placed a bowl in the middle of the counter. He shrugged. "I guess Riley was in too much of a rush, but let's think of it this way; we're not going to be poisoned anytime soon."

"Unless Patrick is cooking," Rhuben pointed out. Patrick glared and slammed the sides of his fists together as his siblings laughed at his expense. "I'm teasing." She stated and then shook her head when he turned away.

"What's so funny?" Riley asked as she walked back into the kitchen, tying her long hair up into a ponytail and sliding a baseball cap over top of her hair.

"Your face," Patrick replied, annoyance from the last comment still evident in his tone. Riley walked by her brother to get to the refrigerator and slapped the back of his head as she went by.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of it," she stated as she grabbed a carton of milk out of the refrigerator and five cups. "But you just said that Rhuben's face is funny looking too." She paused. "Technically you even insulted yourself, because all of our faces look the same."

Patrick looked confused as Sydney looked at the large watch that was on his wrist. "Uh-oh, its 10:30 now, we only have ten minutes to eat and to get down to the studio."

All five of them grabbed a plate, put food on them, and started to eat as fast as they could. Once done, they practically threw their plates into the sink, and raced out of the apartment, taking the stairs as fast s they could, and headed out onto the street.

"Which is faster?" Noah gasped. "A taxi or running?"

"Uh, uh, uh" Riley started to pace back and forth, clenching her hands into fists as she thought. "How much time do we have?"

"Now," Sydney looked at his watch again. "Seven minutes."

"Then we're going to run." Riley replied before taking off down the street. Rhuben wasn't far behind her, and Patrick, Noah, and Sydney brought up the rear. The Jacksons ran as fast as they could, Sydney checking his watch and shouting out the time as each minute went by.

"RUN FASTER!" Riley barked over her shoulder. Beside her, Rhuben chuckled a little bit, seeing the somewhat humorous side of the whole situation. "WHAT' SO FUNNY?"

"One; you don't need to yell." Rhuben replied calmly. "And two; why is it going to make a difference of how late we are if dad is going to be mad anyway?" Riley didn't reply but continued running. Rhuben rolled her eyes and didn't slow down either.

"I'm running, as fast as I can!" Sydney gasped as he held onto the backpack straps that were over his shoulders. He let out a huge breath and then continued breathing erratically. "It's not my fault that I have shorter legs than you guys."

"Yeah, well, it's your fault that you were born last!" Patrick called back over his shoulder. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He shouted at people who crossed his path. They stared at him, eyes wide with surprise and disgust at how rude he was being, although they were getting out of his way.

"My hat" Noah gasped as he felt his head and realized his hat wasn't there. He looked over his shoulder and saw it blowing back down eth sidewalk, being carried by the Los Angeles breeze.

"Forget the hat; we're late as it is!" Rhuben shouted back. Noah darted back, grabbed his hat and then continued sprinting. Rhuben rolled her eyes and turned back around. She gasped, and tried to stop short when she realized that someone had stepped into her path.

Unfortunately, she couldn't stop fast enough and ran into the person.

"Ow," the guy cried as he hit the ground. "Jeez, you'd figure that by now I would be used to something like this."

"Sorry Logan," Rhuben apologized quickly as she got off of her friend and helped him off the ground. "W-w-w-what are you doing out here?" she stuttered as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and quickly looked at the time.

"I was just going to go to the library; we have a report due in science and…" Logan trailed off as Rhuben started to back away from him. He looked confused. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just have to go." She replied. "Right now. To the studio. Bye." She turned and ran out of sight.

"Bu-, wait a second!" Logan called, but then frowned and gave up. He turned and started to walk to the library, holding a set of directions in his hand. Funny enough, he felt guilty. He was telling the truth when he said that he was going to the library. But he was lying when he said that he was going to do some research for a science project.

Actually, there were a lot of things that the Jacksons and his friends didn't know about the situation. What the Jacksons didn't know, or remember, was that Logan had known them when they were younger, but both families had to move and they had forgotten about each other. Logan only remembered that they used to be friends when the vague sense that he had known them from somewhere before bugged him enough to call his mom and ask her to send him his old year books.

And after realizing how much they had changed over the years that he hadn't seen them, he started to wonder whether or not it was a psychological thing that was bothering them, or if it was something else. So that morning he told his teacher, Miss. Collins an idea that he had for an advanced physics paper, to get out of doing a oral science presentation (even though he liked to perform for people, he hated having to speak in front of large crowds.).

He was going to do that, but after a little bit of research of his own.

Logan arrived at the library in a couple of minutes and then immediately went over to a computer. He sated at the search engine that came up as soon as he turned on the computer. He was nervous, trying to figure out whether or not what he was doing was a good idea. On one hand it seemed like it would be a lack of privacy for the Jacksons, but on the other hand he wanted to be sure that they were ok.

He had talked to his friends about whether or not they had noticed anything weird about the Jacksons.

"_What do you mean weird?" Kendall asked, too focused on the hockey game on TV._

"_Come on, come on, come on." James chanted as he watched the hockey players move the puck across the rink._

"_YES!" Carlos shouted as he, James, and Kendall jumped off of the couch and cheered loudly, high-fiving each other. Logan glared at his friends, annoyed at the fact that they were ignoring him. As they were still cheering, Logan swiped the remote from Kendall's hand and turned it off._

"_Turn that game back on or die smarty-pants." James warned._

"_After you answer my question," Logan replies stubbornly._

"_The only way that I've noticed that they could possibly be 'weird'," Kendall put the word in air quotes. "Is the fact that they don't really let anyone touch them. Or they freak out if someone raises their arm."_

"_They don't really like to go home either," Carlos replied. "I mean, neither do I, unless my mom is making her famous homemade Quesadillas."_

"_They don't like to look at themselves in the mirror." James replied._

"_Just because you like to do that, doesn't mean that everyone does." Logan pointed out. James shook his head, looking serious._

"_No, I mean, not like admiring yourself in the mirror," James explained. "But they don't really look anyone in the eye, and if they see their reflection, they look really sad."_

Logan didn't really get a lot of information from his friends, so he asked Katie, who was a bit more perceptive. She noticed some of the things that Kendall and James noticed. But she wasn't very helpful. He had even gone to Mrs. Knight, but then she thought that Logan was trying to get some attention and babied him for a while. When he finally got away, he decided to try and ask Ronan if he knew what was going on. But when he asked their music producer, he seemed to be hiding something, and then after a bit of explaining that Logan wouldn't tell anybody anything that he had found out, Ronan confessed to him that he had the suspicion that the Jacksons were in a lot of trouble by the hand of their father.

When Logan asked about that, Ronan gave a few instances of when the Jacksons had acted happy to be away from their father when he was recording, and then subdued when he came by. Because of all of those instances, Logan decided to get his suspicions confirmed.

Finally deciding that what he was doing was going to help rather than hurt, Logan opened up a search engine and typed in four words.

**Signs of Child Abuse**

A lot of results came up, but when he found a link for the list of symptoms of child abuse, he clicked on it immediately, and started reading the different symptoms.

"Frequent injuries or unexplained bruises," Logan murmured to himself and snorted. "Yeah, that's definitely something that they have a lot of." He continued reading. "Bad hygiene…nah, they have good hygiene, probably even better than James." Despite the circumstances, he smiled a little bit. "Physical injuries? Yep. Shies away from touch? Definitely. Wears inappropriate clothing to cover up bruises? No, but they probably wear a lot of makeup."

Logan printed off the sheet of symptoms and left the library as fast as he could. He didn't know what to do with the information that he had. He knew that he had to tell someone, but then he also had the feeling that the Jacksons would be very mad at him if he did, because of the fact that they hadn't told anyone before, if they actually _were_ getting abused. He remembered them saying that they have an older brother that's in college. Maybe he could give him a call and talk to him about it.

Deciding that was the best idea, Logan called Ronan and asked him for Julius' phone number.

"What do you want his number for?" Ronan asked suspiciously.

"I want to talk to him about his solo career," Logan lied in reply. He hated himself even more, first he was going behind his friends' backs, and now he was lying left and right. It's a good thing that it was for a good cause. "I'm researching different aspects of the music industry, if our group doesn't work out."

"Right," Ronan paused before giving him the phone number.

"Thanks," Logan replied, as he wrote it down on his hand. "Bye." He re-dialed his cell-phone and waited for it to be picked up.

"Hello?" a friendly voice asked as he picked up.

"Yeah, hi, my name is Logan Mitchell. Is this Julius Jackson?"

"Yes, it is." The boy paused. "What's up?"

"I was just calling about your brothers and sisters." Logan replied.

"Oh, Logan. You're one of the guys of that band that my dad is rivals with." Julius replied with recognition. "You're calling about my brothers and sisters? So I'm assuming that you know that they're abused, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Logan asked.

"It was bound to happen eventually." Julius replied. "Plus, it generally seems to be the only reason that people I don't know would call me. What did you want to know?"

"If…if you're openly admitting that you're abused, why aren't you going to the police?" Logan stammered.

"For two reasons, I'm an adult now and my dad can't do anything to me. Right now, along with going to college, I'm working an extra job to get some money to support my brothers and sisters." Julius explained. "But as to the reason why _they_ won't tell, it's because they're afraid that they're going to be separated if they go to foster care. And it's probably true, Riley and Rhuben are old enough that there's a slim change of them getting adopted, Patrick and Noah are close to that age, and Sydney would be the one to definitely be adopted."

"So they're afraid of the fact that if they tell, they'll be split up forever?" Logan replied. "That makes so much sense. But, is there anyone who would adopt all of them? Anyone at all?"

"I think that Ronan would be a good person to become their adoptive father. He really cares about them, almost as much as I do." Julius replied.

"Ok, thank you."

"No problem, I hope it works."

Logan hung up his cell phone and started to walk back to the Palm Woods. He was going to be late for his next class, and even if he lied a lot today, he wasn't ever going to ruin his permanent records.

* * *

The Jacksons were minding their own business at home after their day at the studio. They were late, but their father didn't say anything about it. But they knew that their father was like an active volcano, he was going to go off at any time. Now they were waiting for him to get back home so they could get their homeschooling over with.

When they heard a key in the lock, they got up and started to move as quickly as possible.

"Stop. Right. There."

At the command, the Jacksons froze in their positions and slowly moved in a single file line to stand in front of their father. All of them except Sydney were looking at the ground. Sydney was tired of the pain and torture that they had to go through every day. He just wanted it to end.

Sydney's eyes roamed around the room and they landed on Robert's cold, grey ones. He quickly looked away, but it was too late. The damage was done. He braced himself, but could never protect himself against his father.

He came at him like lightning, reaching out to slap him across the face. Noah dove to the side and pushed his brother to the ground, covering him with his body.

Robert growled in frustration and Noah quickly got to his feet and half ran, half dragged Sydney to his bedroom. Robert reached for them, but Patrick moved in the way and was slapped so hard that he fell to the floor. Rhuben kicked him in the side and Robert turned on his daughters, grabbing their arm, pressing hard against old bruises and creating new ones. He continued to hit them, as they used their other arm to deflect some of his blows.

"Stop!" Rhuben cried, cowering in fear. "Stop! Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

Robert went crazy. "How dare you?" He yelled, spit flying in their faces. "How dare you?" He punched them to emphasize his point.

Patrick let out a scream as he jumped up and punched Robert in the side of the head. He fell off of Riley and Rhuben and turned on Patrick, when then screamed in fear and started to run around the couch, Robert following him.

"Stand still! You're rude…spoiled…and stupid!" He yelled as he chased them. When Patrick passed by the couch again, Robert dove over the top of it and grabbed him by the shirt, shoving him against the wall. "How dare you argue with me!" He slammed Patrick over and over again with each other. "I will not allow this behavior."

"FREEZE!"

"NOBODY MOVE!"

"KEEP YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!"

Riley and Rhuben let out relieved sighs as they slumped against each other and fell down onto the couch. Robert glared at the police officers that swarmed the room before letting go of Noah and backing away from Patrick, who slid to the floor, still cowering in fear.

"You _better_ be frightened, you little bastard." Robert snarled as his arms were wrenched behind his back. He started to thrash back and forth, trying to get away from the people that were holding him down.

"You have the right to remain silent," a police officer stated as he handcuffed Robert's hands behind his back. "Anything you say can and _will_ be used against you in a court of law."

"Oh my gosh," Mrs. Knight rushed into the apartment, looking shocked. Noah and Sydney appeared from the bedroom; Sydney was holding onto Noah's shirt tightly, fresh tear tracks on his cheeks. "I'm so sorry I was a little late. Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Riley replied as she wiped blood from the corner of her mouth. "We're fine now."

* * *

**So what did you guys think of the chapter? What did you like, dislike? Don't forget to check out my sister's story 'Welcome To The Big Time'. Thanks!**

**-Riley  
**


	11. Big Time Friendship Pt1

**.:****Chapter Eleven – Big Time Friendship pt.1****:.**

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* * *

**

"Ok, just follow my finger…and blink."

Sydney did as he was told, and lightly kicked his feet back and forth as he waited for the doctor's diagnosis. His siblings were sitting around him on the couch in apartment 2J. Kendall, Carlos, Katie, Logan, Ronan, and Mrs. Knight were standing around them, different expressions on their faces.

"Ok, despite the bumps and bruises, you all seem to be perfectly fine," Dr. Hastings stated as he put his stethoscope around his neck. He chuckled a little bit. "You know, considering how long you've gone through this kind of pain." He gave a small smile. "You're very brave."

"What's going to happen to our dad?" Rhuben asked, getting to the point.

"Well, he's sitting in jail right now," Ronan replied and then paused for a second. "But, I have to be honest with you guys. There's a good chance that someone could bail him out of jail, and if that doesn't happen. There's a good chance that after a few years in jail, he could come out on parole."

"What?" Katie cried as she turned to look at the Jacksons' music producer. "That bast-"

"Katie!" Mrs. Knight interrupted, effectively cutting her daughter off so she couldn't curse.

"That _bad guy_, goes and hits his children, possibly almost killing them at any other time, and there's still a chance that he can come out of jail and do it again?" she looked disgusted. "That is totally and completely _stupid_!"

"Well, unfortunately, there are a lot of kids in the world who are being abused, and the judicial system still hasn't come to the realization that these guys should stay in jail for life." Ronan replied with a helpless shrug. He walked over to the Jacksons, who avoided his gaze. "Now, what I want to know is why you didn't tell anyone? Or, why you didn't tell me, I thought we were friends."

"You're more like a dad, actually," Sydney pointed out as he rubbed his arm. "At least, better than the one that we have."

"But Ronan is right," Kendall cut in. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Yeah, I thought we were your friends." Carlos added with a puppy-dog pout. Riley and Rhuben winced when they saw the look that he was giving. Sydney used it again them all the time and it worked. Now even if the person is a teenager, they hate to look at the puppy-dog pout because they would usually give into any demand that was asked of them.

"When did we become friends?" Patrick looking genuinely confused.

It was like Riley had said before; their dad had never really let them become friends. That's why they're good at any sport they do or anything they try. Their father pushed them and pushed them so hard that he didn't give them a chance to socialize with people their own age, so they were never that great with making friends. Riley and Rhuben always had the suspicion that the only reason that someone wanted to befriend them was because they were famous (which was what most of the reasons where.), Patrick and Noah seemed to scare everybody by acting extremely close, and Sydney was just really shy when it came to people that he doesn't know.

"Probably as soon as we met you," James replied with a bright smile. "Or when you snuck around in the air vents to try and prove that your dad stole our song."

"You did _what?" _Mrs. Knight and Ronan cried in unison. Before their eyes, Mrs. Knight rushed over to Kendall and started to baby him like she usually did when she heard that he had done something dangerous. "Are you ok? Did you get hurt? You didn't inhale too much dust did you? You know how that can set off your allergies."

"Mom, I'm fine!" Kendall replied as he lightly pushed his mother away.

"We didn't tell because we figured that it was no one's business," Riley answered the averted question. "Plus, we didn't think that anyone would care." She looked confused. "How did you find out anyway? Most people don't really notice."

"That was all me," Logan replied with a nervous smile as all eyes turned to him. "Um, I had noticed that you guys were acting kind of weird. And I had noticed that you had a lot of bruises on your arms and legs."

"So, why didn't you say anything?" Noah inquired. He wasn't mad, he was just curious.

"I didn't think it was my business," Logan explained. "Besides, it could have been the fact that you guys were playing soccer and kicked each other in the leg, or just fell down or something. But after a while, I started to get a naggy feeling and asked the guys if they thought you were acting weird. I asked Ronan too." Ronan nodded when the Jacksons looks over at him silently. "So, today I was going to the library to look up the signs of child abuse, because that's what I thought was happening. When I realized that you were showing a lot of the classic signs, I went to Mrs. Knight and the police and that's where we are now."

"Thank You." Rhuben stated.

"Without you, we could possibly be dead right now," Patrick added and snorted a little bit. "I mean, we've been close to it before, but…I have a feeling that it could have happened."

"Well, we don't know that for sure," Kendall replied. "But we're glad to have you guys around."

The Jacksons blushed with embarrassment, since all of the attention was put on them, and Noah suddenly spoke up. "What about all of the money that we have? What will the concert and promotion that we've done, what will happen to that?"

"Right now, Julius has access to his part of your money, since he's an adult now." Ronan replied. "But everything else I've been put to watch for you."

"Considering this moment is getting really awkward," Riley looked uncomfortable as an awkward silence filled the room. "Can we go home?" she asked Ronan.

"I think it would be a better idea if you stayed here for tonight." Ronan replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "The chief of police doesn't think it's a good idea for you to go back to your apartment, just in case your dad gets away and tried to find out. So he's sending a couple of police officers to go to your apartment and watch if from time to time. And I don't want you guys to be bugged out of your skin all night long." He nodded over at Mrs. Knight. "As long as she doesn't mind," he added.

"I don't mind at all." Mrs. Knight replied with a warm smile. "The guys haven't had a sleepover since they were thirteen."

Riley, Rhuben, and Katie snorted, lips curled in disgust, hiding the fact that they were about to burst out laughing.

"You had sleepovers when you were thirteen?" Rhuben questioned. "Isn't that kind of a girl thing?"

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to hang out with your buds all night long!" Carlos defended himself and then smiled a little bit. "Except for that time when we spent the night making cupcakes and-"

"Shut up, Carlos!" James, Kendall, and Logan snapped in unison, hitting him on the arms. Well, James forgetful as always, hit him on the head, forgetting that he was wearing a helmet and hurt his hand. Carlos laughed at him, mockingly, and James let out a scream and tackled his friend to the ground.

"Well, if you're going to be staying the night, I guess I should get dinner started." Mrs. Knight stated without blinking an eye and turned to Ronan. "You're welcome to stay too."

"Oh, no, I have some work to do at the studio and with the police station," Ronan replied with a grateful smile. "But I'll be back for them tomorrow morning." He gave a small wave to the Jacksons. "Bye guys, I'll see you later."

"Bye," the Jacksons replied at slightly different times. Sydney looked nervous and upset that Ronan was leaving and Mrs. Knight noticed easily.

"Hey, do you want to help me make dinner?" she asked the young boy.

"Yes, please." He replied politely and got down from his chair to help her at the stove.

"Suck up." Patrick muttered and then smiled a little bit, the reality of what had just happened to them finally starting to sink in.

"Do you guys want to play a card game while we wait for dinner?" Katie asked as she took Sydney's seat at the table. "Do you know how to play spoons?"

"Yep," Rhuben replied as she grabbed the deck of cards and started to shuffle them. "Let's play." She looked over at the guys. "Hey, you guys come play too; it's more fun when more people are playing."

"Alright," Carlos slapped his helmet before hurrying over to the table.

"Carlos, I don't think you'll need your helmet," Riley stated with an amused smile as she picked up her cards.

"I've seen people play this game before," Carlos replied as the cards were slowly dealt and the game started at its fast pace. "It can get pretty ugly, and with guys as competitive as these," he motioned to Kendall, James, and Logan, who smiled innocently in reply. "I'm going to need protection."

"Whatever you say."

So they played round after round after round of spoons, screaming and shouting occurring as they game went on. They stopped playing only when it was time for dinner, and after that the Jacksons continued playing as Big Time Rush and Katie relaxed on some of the couches and chairs, watching TV.

"Thanks for letting us stay overnight, Mrs. Knight," Noah said politely. "But you didn't have to make us dinner…and you don't have to keep giving us desert either." He added, looking at the ever growing pile of freshly baked cookies on his plate. "I don't think I can eat another bite."

"Speak for yourself!" Riley and Rhuben harmonized before grabbing his plate of cookies.

"You're a really good cook, Mrs. Knight." Sydney added as he took a large gulp of milk. Mrs. Knight, who was sitting at the head of the table smiled in embarrassment, blushing at the praise.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," She replied and then looked at her watch. "But it's getting late; I think it's time for you guys to get going to bed."

"Mom, you can't tell my friends when to go to sleep." Kendall was beyond embarrassed now.

"Yeah mom," Katie spoke up as she walked into the living room, a large book in her arms. "We have to show Kendall's _baby pictures_" she grinned evilly over at her brother as she started to hand the book to her mom.

"Wow, your sister is evil." Logan commented carelessly from where he was sitting on the couch, reading a Popular Science magazine. His lips curled into a smile as he watched Kendall jump up, grab the book from his sister, and started to fight with her. He looked over at the Jacksons who were laughing along with them, and looking downright happy in general.

He could tell that they were relieved that their old, bad life was going to be over forever and that they were going to start living normally again.

And he couldn't have been happier for them.

For the next two weeks, Big Time Rush gave the Jacksons some space, so they could get used to not being threatened all the time. And as the two weeks progressed, the Jacksons' attitudes had changed dramatically, they didn't flinch whenever someone raised their hand, they weren't as standoffish as they used to be, and they didn't want to go home. Well, before they never really wanted to go home, but now they had so much fun hanging out with the guys, Katie, Camille, and newcomer, Jo that they didn't want it to end. Logan had explained to Riley and Rhuben that they had known each other before, but they didn't believe him. So after a lot of arguing and the relocation of a yearbook, they figured out that he was right and decided that they should try and be best friends again. So far, it was working fine.

Camille had heard about what happened and was especially worried for her new friends, she even made up a few new dramatic and action monologues of what she would have done if she was in their position. It made the Jacksons laugh really hard, and it helped them forget even more. At first, Jo wasn't sure how to react around them, but as the Jacksons were at the Palm Woods to witness the guys fighting over her, they became friends with her easily (Riley and Rhuben especially as they, Jo, and Camille had bonded over how stupid guys were.)

So it was just another day in LA for the two bands and their friends. But just like any other day with the boys of Big Time Rush, something was going to happen that caused everybody around them to get involved.

"So, you're telling me that if I wash my hair with cold water then it will be better for hair growth?" Patrick asked James, eyes wide in wonder. The two were standing in the bathroom of apartment 2J, admiring themselves.

"Exactly," James replied with a proud grin. "And that way your spikes will stay up even longer."

"Cool." Patrick beamed in reply and then leaned in close to the mirror to inspect his face, making sure that there weren't any pimples or anything.

"It's a good thing that you're keeping my brother preoccupied, but I don't want his head to get any bigger." James turned around to see Rhuben leaned in the doorway, a wary expression on her face. "Last time he got ideas like that, his head got stuck."

"Ha ha" Patrick rolled his eyes as he leaned away from the mirror. "Love you too, Rhu-Rhu."

"Wait a minute," James stated as he looked at Rhuben's reflection. "What's that bruise on your arm?"

"Bruise?" Rhuben repeated blankly and then let out a small chuckle. "Oh!" she pushed up the sleeve of her t-shirt to reveal a purple quarter note tattoo. "That' snot a bruise, that's a tattoo."

"You actually got a tattoo?" James winced. "Didn't it hurt?"

"It depends on where you get it, anyway," Rhuben smirked a little bit and stood up straight as she scratched her arm. "We have to go or we'll be late for school."

"You're still getting home schooled?" James questioned as she pulled his lucky comb out of his pocket and started to move it through his hair.

"Yep," Rhuben replied as she grabbed her brother's arm. "Today Ronan is teaching us something about physics and displacement?"

"Whose idea was that?" Patrick asked as he curled his upper lip in disgust.

"Sydney's," Rhuben rolled her eyes. "Whose do you think?" she tugged on Patrick's arm again and effectively pulled him out of the bathroom, placing her hands on his shoulders, leading him towards the door of the apartment.

"Leaving so soon?" Logan asked as he looked up from the newspaper.

"We have to go to school," Patrick mumbled in reply, a dark look crossing his features. He laughed a little bit and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Speaking of which, aren't you guys going to be late?"

"Yeah, well, we're still waiting for James to come out and criticize our clothing to death," Logan replied and Katie, Kendall, and Carlos, who were sitting at the table with him, eating breakfast, nodded with their mouths full. "In fact, he should be out in three…two…one…"

"Ok guys, let's go!" James stated as he walked out of the bathroom with a bright grin and his backpack on his back. He slowed down his walk and then looked at his friends. He pointed to Carlos. "That shirt doesn't match those pants," Carlos made a growling sound as he continued to eat his cereal. He pointed at Kendall. "Your hair could use more brushing."

"Bite me." Kendall replied with a full mouth.

"And what's with that sweater?" James asked as he walked over to Logan and lightly lifted his arm, before dropping it back down. "I'm pretty sure that those went out of style years ago."

"Well, now that we've gotten that done on time, we can go." Logan smirked, not paying attention to the comment that James just gave him. "How long is your guys' classes today?" he asked Rhuben and Patrick.

"Uh, for four hours today," Rhuben replied as she looked at the ceiling in thought. "We're going over Physics and displacement, and then we have a math test. After that we get free reign until we have our dance practice"

"Kill me now." Patrick agreed with another eye roll, he smiled a little bit when Katie laughed.

"That reminds me," Rhuben looked over at Logan and held a curious expression on her face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "What is it?"

"When are you going to give Mr. Rogers his sweater back?" Rhuben cracked and then she and Patrick bolted to the door, laughing hysterically.

* * *

"Ugh, school is boring." James murmured over Miss Collins' rambling, as he rested his arms on his desk and then placed his chin on his forearms. He smiled as he stared ahead of him. "Except for the beautiful scenery." He added as he watched the Jennifers fix their hair and put on makeup.

"Yeah, like they're really going to pay attention to you," Kendall replied with a roll of his eyes. "Like Logan…is paying attention to the lesson." He added and rolled his eyes again, but this time with an air of amusement as he watched his friend frantically taking down notes.

"Shh, I'm trying to get this done." Logan hissed as he briefly looked up and continued to write.

"Kiss up." Carlos muttered from James' other side, where he was balancing a pencil on his upper lip. He was tilted back in his chair, his helmet on the desk in front of him, as they weren't allowed in class, and his lips were puckered to try and get it. He frowned when the pencil fell off of his lips and when he picked it up, his hand shook, making the pencil wobble. "Wow!" Carlos' eyes grew wide as he sat up, a large smile gracing his features. "Did you see that?" he started to shake his hand. "Look, a rubber pencil."

"Kendall, are you _sure_ that that helmet is _helping_ him?" James asked.

"Now, I'm not so sure." Kendall replied before chuckling a little bit. "I still can't believe that we're here in LA. I don't know, it just seems so-"

"Shh, I'm concentrating." James interrupted, staring intently at something below his desk, as if he didn't want Miss. Collins to take his stuff away.

"On what?" Carlos asked as he leaned over to see. "Don't tell me that you're taking notes."

"Notes? Pshhh, of course not." James looked offended as he snorted. "I'm not _that_ much of a nerd."

"Gee, thanks." Logan replied sarcastically. "And I gotta say, I just love your hair this morning. What did you do? Cut it with a lawn mower?"

"You better take that back!"

"Stop arguing and tell us what you're looking at." Kendall snapped, sounding annoyed.

"Two more headshots that I made," James replied and pulled them out from underneath his desk. "Hot young doctor and hot greasy mechanic."

"Thos are…great, James." Kendall replied, looking as if he didn't care in any way. He let out a sigh of relief as Miss. Collins let them out of class. "Finally, free time!" he declared, punching his fists in the air as they walked through the halls of the Palm Woods. "And no Gustavo to boss us around."

"Yeah, shouting and screaming at us for no reason." Carlos agreed.

"Crushing our hopes and dreams," James added with a sigh.

"And calling us dogs," Logan concluded.

"Not quite." Big Time Rush turned around to see Riley and Rhuben standing casually behind them.

"Hey, Riley, Rhuben what are you doing here?" Carlos asked with a bright smile as he looked at Rhuben and then Riley.

"I'm Rhuben, Carlos." Rhuben corrected and then laughed when Carlos made a face at his guess being wrong.

Every day for the past two weeks he has been trying to figure out the two sets of twins. He got Patrick and Noah pretty fast, as they're visibly different and they act differently. But with Riley and Rhuben except for what they wear sometimes, they pretty much act the same. So it's really hard for him to tell the two of them apart. For the rest of them, they either stopped trying altogether or they had gotten it way before him.

"You'll get it eventually. Anyway, we have a break after school and before our dance lesson, so we thought that we would come by to see what you guys were up to." Rhuben explained.

"We _were_ going to ask if you wanted to go to the pool area, or something, because Rolling Records is full of old people" Riley jumped in. "And we heard Gustavo shouting for you guys from a mile away, so we thought we'd come over and warn you that you have to go to Rocque Records as soon as possible."

"Ugh." The four boys groaned, rolling their eyes.

"Thanks for the warning, though." Logan replied as he dropped his backpack to the ground, stretching his shoulder.

"No problem," Riley shrugged. "We'll just go see what Camille and Jo are up to."

"Speaking of which," Carlos seemed to have suddenly remembered something as he turned to Logan with a smirk on his face. "How did you date with Camille go?"

"Don't ask." Logan replied as he shuddered a little bit.

"Too late." Kendall, James, Riley, and Rhuben chorused, also interested in the story.

"We went to a restaurant and she made a whole monologue out in public." Logan replied. "I'm not sure what show it was for this time though."

"Who cares about that?" James interrupted, waving his hands in front of Logan's face. "Did you two kiss? You know, not like she hasn't planted one on you before."

"Well, we did kiss, and it was actually kind of nice." Logan admitted.

"Nice?" Carlos repeated with an apathetic look on his face. "No, kisses aren't 'nice'" he put the word in air quotes. "Bubbles are nice, art is nice. We're talking about a kiss here. Was it hot or not?"

"You guys can be such guys sometimes," Riley stated as she shook her head. "I wonder why I hang around you so much; I can practically feel my brain melting."

"You have a brain?" Kendall shot back.

"Funny." Riley made a face in reply.

"If I can interrupt this lover's spat," Rhuben cut in with an annoyed expression. "I'm pretty sure that you guys should get going or Gustavo is going to cause the earth to implode. So we're going to head out."

"Hey, before you go, can I get your opinion on something?" James asked with an eager smile. Riley shrugged her shoulders again. "I really need to see what a girl thinks about this."

"Why not?" Rhuben replied carelessly. "We don't have anywhere to be right now."

"Cool," James beamed and pulled out his headshots again. "Which do you like better?" Riley and Rhuben leaned close to each picture, clearly studying both of them. Finally, Rhuben straightened up and made a face as she still thought.

"I don't know," she replied. "This one shows how you can act any type you want," she pointed to the mechanic picture and then to the doctor one. "And this one will show people that they can rely on you."

"And you got that out of one picture?" Kendall asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, we're girls," Riley gave a small smile. "We over analyze everything." She laughed a little bit and then pointed to the doctor picture. "I like this one better. It looks more like you, plus, you have a good smile."

"Cool, thanks."

Suddenly the ground and the walls started to shake, and Big Time Rush and the girls were positive that they knew what it was coming from.

"Oh no, Gustavo sounds like he's going to pop a blood vessel, we better go." Logan stated, sounding a little antsy. "We'll see you later, girls."

"Later." The twins replied before going off to find Jo and Camille.

Hanging out with the guys was ok, but they needed a bit of girl-time every once in a while.

* * *

**I hope you guys are enjoying this story and thanks for reading. This chapter is sort of like a filler, so that's why it's sort of boring. But I wanted to show how Big Time Rush and The Jacksons/DarkElements get along. Constructive Criticism is welcome.**

**Don't forget to read my sister's story 'Welcome To The Big Time'.**

**Thanks!**

**-Riley**


	12. Big Time Friendship Pt2

**.:****Chapter Twelve – Big Time Friendship pt.2****:.**

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"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No"

"Please?"

"Sure."

"Really?"

"No."

Patrick, Noah, and Sydney laughed at the deflated expression on Carlos' face as Rhuben denied his request one more time. She chuckled and patted her friend on the shoulder before moving around him, holding onto a notebook. Riley, who was sitting in the corner with a laptop on her lap, was just staring in curiosity. The five of them were sitting in the dance studio and were going over some new material, and were cut short when the guys burst into the room, obviously having run all the way from Rocque Records, just to ask if they wanted to help them take care of Gustavo's mansion while he was gone in North Carolina.

"Why would we want to do that?" Riley questioned as she raised an eyebrow.

"Because you get to waste a whole night with us," James replied as if every person in the world would jump at the chance of that. "_And _stay in a cool Hollywood mansion!"

"There's just one problem with that." Riley stated as she closed her laptop with a loud click

"What's that?"

"Gustavo hates us."

"What?" Kendall cried and then snorted. "Pfft, no he doesn't."

"He hates you too." Riley added.

"Ok, you got me on that one."

Logan rolled his eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm pretty sure that Gustavo is incapable of liking anyone. But I don't think that he hates you or us for that matter." He forced a smile. "I mean, he even gave us endearing pet names."

"If you think being called a 'dog' is endearing, then I don't want to know what you think 'baby' means." Noah replied with a small smile. "Besides, is it really going to take six sixteen year olds to watch a house?" he added. "Because I know for sure that Ronan isn't going to let me, Patrick, or Sydney stay with you."

"After us having watched you for years, I think it would be fine." Rhuben replied.

"No one ever said that it was a good thing." Patrick countered and he and Noah laughed and high-fived each other. Riley just rolled her eyes, closing her laptop with a loud click.

"Ow!" she cried, having closed the laptop on her finger. She waved her hand in the air, waiting for the sting to go away, and then turned towards Kendall. "Have you even asked your mom if you can do it?" she asked. He snorted again as he rolled his eyes.

"I don't need to ask my mom if I want to do something." He replied incredulously.

* * *

"No," Mrs. Knight cried incredulously as she shook her head. Kendall, who was standing in front of her, looked crestfallen.

"Mom," Kendall pleaded. He had just finished telling her about the opportunity that they had to house sit for Gustavo and she was totally against it. "Just one night."

"You're too young," Mrs. Knight replied.

"I told ya so." Riley replied from where she and her siblings were sitting at the table with James, Logan, Carlos, and Katie. They were all eating dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets.

"I'm not too young," Kendall scoffed as he rolled his eyes. He was getting a little tired of having to explain that he was responsible enough to take care of a house. "I'm sixteen!"

"Like _that's_ going to make much of a difference." Rhuben commented. Kendall glared over at her and she fell silent, violently biting the head off of a tyrannosaurus rex.

"Yeah," Logan felt that he needed to jump into the conversation to help his friend and the cause. "Together we're 64 and that's older than you." He added and then paused. "That _is_ older than you, isn't it?"

"Ooh," Sydney winced as s thunderous look slid onto Mrs. Knight's face.

"Eat!" Mrs. Knight declared as she grabbed Logan's head and moved it back towards his plate. Kendall laughed a little bit before grabbing his mother's arms and looking straight into her eyes.

"Mom, its time you stop treating me like a child," Kendall stated and Katie snorted, from where she was picking at her plate. "_And_ its time you stop feeding me dinosaur shaped chicken." He added through clenched teeth as he picked up the offending object from his plate.

"You love your dinosaur chicken!" Mrs. Knight replied with a cheerful smile.

"Yeah," Kendall looked thoughtful for a second and then annoyed. "When I was eight!"

"Not much has changed." Katie joked and giggled as Kendall moved to lightly hit her on the back of the head, but Mrs. Knight grabbed onto her son's arm, keeping him out of reach of her daughter. Logan took this opportunity to try and help their case even further.

"Yeah, we are _men_ now, Mrs. Knight."

At that moment, James and Carlos seemed to want to ruin everything that they were working for as they were having a little dinosaur fight with Patrick and Noah, adding in their own dinosaur roars and sound effects. Everybody else stared at them, eyebrows raised as they watched the four of them. Annoyed, Kendall grabbed a piece of chicken and threw it at the four of them, it bounced off of James' head, and they shut up and looked at him sheepishly.

"Mom, it's time." Kendall replied as he looked at his mother with a puppy-dog expression on his face. Mrs. Knight frowned ad finally gave in.

"I want hourly updates." She stated, causing the four guys to burst into cheers and screams of excitement. James gasped when Carlos jumped up to cheer, knocking over his glass of chocolate milk in the process.

"Dude," he gasped and turned towards his friend. "You knocked over my chocolate milk!" Carlos grabbed a chicken nugget and chewed it loudly and mockingly in James' face, before James let out a scream and tackled his friend to the ground. Katie, Logan, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney took the opportunity to clear their plates of their chicken.

"Ha!" Kendall turned and pointed a finger in Riley's face. "I told you that my mom would go along with it."

"Watch it," she replied, pushing his hand away from her face. "I can still seeing this all going downhill somehow."

"Nothing's going to happen," Kendall stated as he turned back to his mother and smiled charmingly. "I'll be in charge."

Later that afternoon found the boys of Big Time Rush, and Riley and Rhuben (who were still shocked that Ronan would let them help house sit) standing outside of Gustavo's mansion, marveling at how big it was.

"Ok, I set my phone number in all of your speed dials," Mrs. Knight called from the front seat of the minivan that she had drove them over in. They all turned around and looked at Mrs. Kngiht as if they couldn't believe that what she had just said. "So you just dial 'M' for mommy."

"Mom," Kendall whined, embarrassed.

"And, I brought your jammies for ya." She added as she pulled a pile of clothes out of the car and held them out for Kendall. Her son shuffled forward, completely embarrassed in front of his friends. He grabbed the pajamas and shoved them into James' chest. While doing that, his mother noticed an extra duffel bag and could easily guess what was inside it. "Katie, you're not staying, get out of the duffel bag!" she declared.

The bag unzipped itself and Katie got out of the bag, looking upset that she couldn't stay. Kendall ruffled her hair as she passed and got back into the car, sticking her tongue out at her brother and his friends.

"Your brothers don't care that Ronan let you guys come?" James asked Riley and Rhuben.

"Nah," Rhuben replied with a smirk and a roll of her eyes before a look of suspicions slid over her features. "They wanted to get rid of us. This is the only time that they would be able to get the TV without having to have some sort of grudge match over it."

"Have fun!" Mrs. Knight stated before they all turned and ran into the house.

"Whoa, he's living large." Rhuben commented as she spun in a circle, looking up at the ceiling. She stopped for a second and waited for her eyes to stop spinning before grinning. "Really awesome."

"Ooh, a helmet rack!" Carlos shouted as soon as he saw the large, white, porcelain statue in the middle of the foyer. He ran forward and started to put his helmet on top of the head, but Logan reached up and grabbed it off as fast as he could, afraid that his friend would break it.

"Guys," Kendall got everyone's attention."We promised that we would do this in a responsible manner." He stated as he held up his hands in an easy going manner, gauging everybody's reaction before continuing. "Now, we have 64 years of experience between us and-"he suddenly stopped, eyes wide. "What am I kidding? I'LL RACE YA TO THE MEDIA ROOM!"

Riley and Rhuben stared as they watched the four boys race each other to the media room, effectively pushing Kendall to the ground, as they went.

"So, how long was that?" Riley asked as she turned to her twin.

"Ten seconds," Rhuben replied as she looked at her watch. "So, Sydney won the bet." She made a face a she lowered her arm to her side. "Yeah, I don't think it would be a good idea to tell him that, I can't stand the fact that he's smarter than me, than when he gloats about winning some sort of a competition."

"Yep." Riley replied simply.

"Hey," James poked his head out of the media room, a large, excited smile on his face. "Are you girls coming or not? Dude, you have to come and see this!" Riley and Rhuben burst out laughing at their friend's hyperness and went into the media room. Their mouths dropped open as they looked around.

"Wow," they stated in unison.

"Told you it was cool." James beamed.

"No lie about that," Riley stated as she placed her hands on her hips. "People must have really liked his old boy bands for him to get a place like this. "You know, just to continue with this little spiel of breaking the rules," she turned to Logan. "Which I'm surprised you're doing."

"Hey, there's a golf simulator," Carlos stated as he looked at all of the stuff hooked to the TV. "Who wants to play?"

"Not me, I'm bad at golf," Riley turned down the offer and Rhuben nodded in agreement.

"Last time she played, she ended up knocking out half of the staff," Rhuben explained with an amused smile on her face. "And that was only on the first hole. Now, I'm not that great either, but at least I'm not that bad."

"Thanks a lot," Riley rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"You're welcome." Rhuben replied with a cheeky smile.

"You can't be that bad," Carlos denied. "At least, I haven't heard of anyone being that bad."

"Let me teach you then," James suggested as he started up the game. "I can teach anybody how to golf."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Riley replied with a small smile. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"If you say so," James shrugged in reply as Kendall came back into the room. "Where did you go?"

"I went and made some popcorn," Kendall replied as he pulled a few buckets out from behind his back, a large smile on his face. "You can't stay in a house like this, take advantage of Gustavo's hospitality, and _not_ make some popcorn." He explained as he passed out the buckets of popcorn. He sat down in an empty bean bag chair and started to eat from his bucket.

He grabbed a handful of popcorn and nudged Logan, miming that he was going to throw the popcorn once James got started. Logan smiled and nodded back in agreement. James moved up to the putter and got into the golfing stance, occasionally looking up at the screen as if he was actually out on the putting green.

Riley, Rhuben, Logan, Carlos, and Kendall frantically threw handfuls of popcorn and shouted things to make James lose his concentration and hit a bad swing. Unfortunately, it didn't have any effect and he got it really close to the hole. James let out a cheery of victory as Carlos got up to take his turn.

"This is totally awesome," Carlos stated what was on everyone's minds. "The six of us, kicking back in a mansion."

"Where we've broken rule number one by entering the media room." Logan reminded his friends. "But it stops here, right?"

"Right!" Kendall, Logan, and James replied in unison.

* * *

"Why do you think Gustavo locks his fridge?" Kendall mused as the group of teenagers stood in front of the large refrigerator that was indeed locked with a padlock and chains.

"I bet he keeps his heart in there," James commented, tilting his head to the side.

"Or his victims" Logan added.

"Or food," Carlos agreed with a megawatt smile on his face.

"Well," Kendall sighed and cracked his knuckles. "Only one way to find out."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you crazy?!" Logan held his arms out in a barricade to keep his arms from moving forward. "Now, I expected this from them," he motioned to Riley and Rhuben who looked offended. "Don't you remember mansion sitting rule number two?"

"_Rule Number two; have yourself anything you want in my living room fridge!"_

"What are you looking at?" Rhuben questioned when she noticed that all of the guys were looking at the ceiling as Riley waved a hand in front of her friends' faces.

"What? You didn't see our daydream?" Carlos asked.

"No," Riley replied as she shook her head once.

"That was not it!" Logan snapped, going back to the conversation at hand.

"Yes it was!" Carlos, James, and Kendall snapped back in reply.

"Step aside boys," Carlos pushed his friends back out of the way. "My uncle was a locksmith." He cleared his throat. "You just place your hands between the cylinder and the central housing…" he trailed off as he reached over and grabbed a giant sledgehammer, heaving it over his shoulder. "AND THEN HIT IT WITH A SLEDGE HAMMER!" He let out a scream as he brought the sledgehammer down onto the chain, breaking it easily.

"Hey, where'd he get that?" Riley questioned.

"I don't know," Rhuben shrugged in reply. "Where do we always get those signs out of nowhere?"

"Good point."

"If we're done talking, I'm ready to eat." Carlos interrupted and pulled the chains away, opening the refrigerator door. The six teenagers stared as all that was inside it was lots and lots of-"

"PUDDING!" Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos shouted in unison and surged forward, shoving the twin girls out of the way, to get to the chocolaty desert.

About twenty minutes later, the media room was filled with empty containers of chocolate pudding. Rhuben made a face as she brushed some off of a bean bag chair and sat down, careful not to get any pudding on her clothes. "Don't' you guys think you've eaten enough?"

"No!" Riley, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James droned in unison.

"And to think," Kendall smirked. "Gustavo didn't trust us." He smiled when he noticed that James was holding out a half filled cup of pudding. He lunged forward and stuck his spoon into the container and took out a heaping glob of pudding, slowly moving it towards his mouth before it fell onto the couch. Kendall stared, eyes wide and breathing heavily, as he stared at the spot.

Finally, he let out a high-pitched squeak and jumped off of the couch, everybody gathering around to see what happened.

"Look what you did!" Rhuben screeched, pointing to the spot. "I _told_ you not to eat on the couch."

"Since when do you follow rules?" Riley practically screamed back.

"SINCE I MET GUSTAVO!"

"Gustavo's Forty-thousand dollar couch!" Carlos screeched.

"Keep your butts off his couch was rule number three!" Logan replied.

"No it wasn't!" Kendall replied desperately and then the four of them looked towards the ceiling.

"_Rule number three; keep your butts off my Forty-Thousand dollar Federico Benini couch!"_

"_What_ are you _looking_ at?" Riley demanded.

"Ok, maybe it was," Kendall replied ignoring her outburst.

"Gustavo's going to kill us," James stated, staring to panic. "And we're only 64 years old."

"Which means," Kendall threw his pudding cups away. "We're more than capable of getting a pudding stain out of a couch." He turned towards his smart friend. "Logan, brain, now."

"Right, ok, um," Logan squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to think of what to do. "I got it!" he smiled as he turned to face his friends. "Gustavo has a cat, right? And cat litters main ingredient is Bentinite which we all know is a natural absorbent"

"I'll go find the kitty litter." Riley stated and ran off towards the bathroom to see if she could find the package. She slowed to a walk when she realized that she didn't know what she was doing. "Where would Gustavo leave a box of kitty litter?" she tapped her chin as she looked around and then blinked when she saw it practically sitting right in front of her face. "Oh, here it is." She shrugged, grabbed the box, and hurried back to her friends. "Here." She handed the box to Logan.

"Thank you," Logan took the box and sprinkled the contents onto the couch. "There, now we just relax and wait." As he finished saying that, an odd looking, naked cat, jumped onto the couch, causing all of them to scream. Riley screamed the loudest and dove behind James.

"Whoa, what is that thing?" Logan gasped as he stared at it.

"It must be his cat," Kendall pointed out.

"That's a cat?" Carlos questioned.

"That's not a cat!" Riley replied as she shakily pointed a hand at it. "It's an ugly evil creature!"

"Who cares what it is," James countered. "Just get it off before it…" he trailed off as the cat peed on the couch. "Marks its territory." He finished with a groan.

"GET IT OFF THE COUCH!" Kendall demanded.

"Ok, ok," Carlos moved forward and grabbed the cat. He turned and tossed it towards Riley. "Catch!" Riley screamed again and moved out of the way as the cat went flying in her direction and out the door.

"What did you do that for?" Rhuben sounded and looked like she was going to have a heart attack.

"You _know_ that I hate cats!" Riley replied her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Especially ones that are flying towards my _face_!"

"There goes rule number four," Logan sighed and sat down on the lamp table, also on a remote. He jumped up as loud techno music filled the air and a disco ball moved down from the ceiling.

"DISCO BALL, AAH!" Carlos screamed and dove towards the ground as Logan frantically pushed buttons on the remote to turn off the music.

"Rule number five," James shouted over the music. "You break it, you're fired!"

"Everybody just calm down," Kendall shouted, trying to regain order over everybody so they didn't completely panic. "All we gotta do is get the stain off the couch, find the cat, and raise the disco ball! We can do this! Together!"

Now, what the boys of Big Time Rush didn't know was that whenever the Jacksons were involved with something, they generally tended to make things worse before it got better. It took only a matter of hours for it to happen too. That was evident as sirens were going off, lights were flashing, James had somehow broken the statue in the foyer of the mansion, Kendall was putting out a fire in a waste basket, Carlos and Riley were nowhere to be seen as they were trying to find Gustavo's cat, and Logan and Rhuben were looking for the cat inside the house.

"I can't find the cat at all!" Logan gasped as he ran by Kendall in a frantic state.

"Where the hell could that stupid cat go!?" Rhuben added, tugging at the ends of her hair.

"I think I broke the statue," James mused as he scratched his head with one of the broken off arms. Kendall, who was putting out a fire in a waste basket, turned and accidentally sprayed the fire extinguisher in shock. He coughed as the chemicals floated through the air.

"Well, the good news is, this can't get any worse, right?" Kendall asked hopefully and then turned in to the screams that were coming from the foyer, as Carlos and Riley ran into the house, pushing and shoving each other out of the way. Carlos' helmet was fumbling in his hands.

"THE ALLIGATOR'S LOSE! THE ALLIGATOR'S LOSE!" They screamed as they ran.

"IS THER A-"Logan stopped as his eyes grew wide. "Why is there an alligator-"he trailed off as he fainted onto a stack of pillows that just so happened to be sitting on the floor. Carlos, Kendall, and James lifted their friend off of the floor and with Riley and Rhuben, ran, screaming, from the foyer as they heard growls from an alligator behind them.

* * *

"How did an alligator get in here?" Kendall asked moments later. They waited for a long time, two hours tops, to make sure that the alligator wasn't following them as they ran around the house, screaming their heads off. He was standing on top of a ladder, trying to lure the huge alligator into the bathroom. Everyone else was standing behind him, too afraid to get any closer.

"I don't know," Carlos replied. "It came in from the moat!"

"The moat?!" James and Logan repeated loudly.

"Nice alligator," Kendall cooed in fear. "Follow the meat!" he threw the broom, with a slab of meat attached to it, into the bathroom and quickly closed the door behind it. They all sighed in relief and sat down on the steps behind them. "Now all we have to do is find Gustavo's freakishly bald cat, so Gustavo doesn't kill us!"

"Somebody call the FBI!" James instructed.

"For a missing cat?" Logan asked incredulously. "The FBI only works with serious crimes."

"Oh, that explains a lot." James replied sheepishly.

"_Hello? FBI? Someone's used all of my conditioner and my hair is lifeless and- hello? Hello?"_

"I know one of you used all of my Cuda massive hold!" James stated in suspicion as he looked at his friends pointedly.

"If I didn't know any better, I would have said that it was Patrick." Riley muttered to her sister.

"I couldn't agree more." Rhuben replied with a tired sigh as she rested her head on Riley's shoulder.

"Focus!" Kendall snapped, his voice echoing in the foyer. "Ok, there are only three possible places the cat could be hiding. One; he's roaming the neighborhood, two; he's hiding up a tree," he trailed off as he heard a burp coming from the refrigerator. "That's number three." He let out a groan and dropped his head to his knees.

* * *

"You can't shave a cat." Logan commented as he stared at the orange fur ball sitting on the table in front of them.

"Oh?" James stated, holding onto a razor. "Would you rather tell Gustavo we lost his and you know, have him replace us, and DESTORY MY DREAMS?!"

"Breathe, James, breathe." Rhuben soothed as she rubbed his back, shocked at his outburst.

"Where did you get the cat?" Logan questioned Carlos, who shrugged in reply.

"I met a guy." He replied simply.

"Enough!" Riley grabbed the razor from James and handed it over to Kendall. "Just shave the thing!"

"Alright, hold him down." Kendall stated and turned on the razor.

"Oh, I can't look." Logan covered his eyes, somehow knowing that all of this was going to go wrong. Kendall rolled his eyes and turned on the razor before moving it towards the cat. Before the razor could touch its fur, the cat flipped out and let out a loud yowl and scratched up the guys and girls, before tearing up the rest of the house.

"We're doomed." Kendall stated when the cat finally calmed down. "We're _horrible_ mansion sitters." He added with a groan. He looked down and reached for his phone when it made a dinging sound. "Oh good news. Gustavo and Kelly are coming back early."

"Aah!" James let out a little scream as he grabbed his head.

"Don't worry, I can fix this" Logan stated as he raced into the room, holding onto a laptop.

"Yes!" Riley and Rhuben cheered, high fiving.

"I knew that the smart one would come through," James agreed. "What have you got?"

"There's a four am flight to Bolivia," he replied as he pointed to the screen. "We get there, change our names and raise alpacas."

"I can't do that and leave my brothers alone," Riley commented as she shook her head. "Think of something else."

"Yeah, I have a better idea." Kendall replied and stood up as he pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open.

"You're going to call a cleaning service!" Carlos guessed.

"A statue repairman" James added.

"And one of those places that gets cats out of alligators." Logan finished.

"Do they even make those?" Riley questioned.

"They do," Kendall agreed with a nod. "All of the above." Kendall said something into his phone and they all waited impatiently, constantly looking at the time and mentally freaking out, knowing that as each minute passed, Gustavo was getting closer to the house. They all turned as the front door banged open and Mrs. Knight walked in, followed by Katie, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney, who were all carrying cleaning supplies.

"Ok mom, here's the sitch." Kendall started to explain.

"Zip it!" Mrs. Knight interrupted her son, who looked shocked, realizing that she was a mother on a mission. "I need three liters of club soda, a sewing kit, a bucket of vinegar, bleach, and get on the phone and find a place that delivers super turbo bonding glue and semi gloss white paint."

"I'm on it." Riley declared and pulled out her cell phone and walked away to be heard.

"What did you _do_?" Patrick gasped his eyes wide.

"I think it's obvious," Noah replied as he turned around in a slow, circle looking at all of the damage. "The question is what _didn't_ they do?"

"Funny," Rhuben made a face and lightly hit her brothers on the back of the head.

"Wait, what about Gustavo's cat?" Carlos questioned as he put his helmet on his head.

Mrs. Knight smiled in reply and pulled a box of cat food out of a bag that Sydney was holding onto, and shook some food out on the floor. At once, Monty came into the house, and went over to the food, eating it hungrily. Katie stared at it in disgust.

"_That's_ a cat?" she asked, pointing at it.

"What are you all staring at, we're going to be here all night" Mrs. Knight stated as she turned back to the boys.

"The delivery is on its way!" Riley stated as she walked back to the others, snapping her phone shut.

"How are we going to clean up this whole house before Gustavo gets back?" James asked. "It's impossible."

"It's not if you do it our way." Patrick replied and pulled a large CD player out of Sydney's bag. "Noah, put in the CD, my arms are full." He popped open the top and Noah took a CD out of its plastic case and stuck it into the CD player. A familiar tune filled the air and Big Time Rush looked at them in suspicion.

"How'd you get that?" Logan demanded as he recognized the song as _The City Is Ours_. "Did you steal it?"

"No," Riley looked offended. "We just asked Kelly to make a copy of it before your demo came out." She explained. "Besides, you can't clean any faster than if you're doing it to the beat of a song." She smiled warmly.

"I like the way you think." James agreed.

"Go! Go, go, go!" Mrs. Knight shouted, getting everybody's attention.

"That's right, move it!" Katie agreed mockingly.

"You too! Go!" Mrs. Knight snapped at her daughter.

"Rolling past graffiti walls, billboards lighting up the block, every one of us on a mission." Kendall sang as he and the others moved around as fast as they could, cleaning up and repainting everything in sight.

"Oh yeah," Logan chimed in as he danced past, pushing a mop across the floor.

"Cuz' the night is young, the light is out the door," The Jacksons sang, using their own dance moves to clean up the dirty walls. "Today was crazy but, tonight the city's ours."

"Live it up, until the mornin' comes ." Big Time Rush sang as they moved around, painting the large canvas that the cat had spray painted earlier. (How that happened, they weren't exactly sure.) "Today was crazy but, tonight, the city is ours."

Before they knew it, it was the morning and Gustavo was going to be at the mansion soon. "Alright, looking good guys," Mrs. Knight commented as she walked around, checking to see how everything had looked. James, Carlos, Riley, and Rhuben were sitting around the statue, trying to hold it together with their finger tips. "And that glue should dry in ten…nine…eight…" she started to count down the last few seconds of the glue to dry.

Logan and Rhuben, who were sitting at the front door, keeping watch, mentally died when they saw that Gustavo's limo was pulling in the driveway. They turned and ran to their friends.

"Bigfoot's on the campground" they shouted. "Repeat, Bigfoot's on the campground."

"Whoa, way to read my brain waves." Rhuben smiled as she laughed a little bit.

"They don't call us best friends for nothing." Logan replied, returning her smile.

"Mom" Kendall whined as he ran by, sounding like he was going to cry.

"Five seconds as the bond will hold!" Mrs. Knight replied her eyes glued to her watch.

"He's coming up the steps!" Noah shrieked, jumping up and down, his hands flapping at his wrists. Patrick and Sydney practically glomped onto him, almost knocking their brother to the floor.

"We're going to die!" they whimpered in unison.

"Three, two one," Katie grabbed her mother's arm and quickly counted off the rest of the seconds. "Let's roll!" She pulled her mom towards the back door, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney running after them.

"Mom!" Kendall called, to get his mother's attention. She turned to look at him and he smiled. "Thanks."

"Thanks Mama Knight!" Riley added as she ran by Kendall.

Mrs. Knight smiled at her son, blew him a kiss, and then hurried out the door, just as Gustavo walked into the house, looking around in suspicion.

"Well, look whose here," James stated from where he and his friends were lying on the floor, acting as if they had just woken up, dressed in the pajamas that Mrs. Knight had left. Riley and Rhuben were the only ones that were still in their regular clothes. "It's Gustavo and Kelly."

"We slept here because we didn't want to touch anything," Logan pointed out, in case they were wondering why they were all lying on the floor.

"Yeah," Carlos agreed with a nervous smile. "We're not just pretending." He let out a muffle cry of pain as James and Logan reached out and slapped him on the arms.

"SILENCE!" Gustavo shouted.

"We'd love to stay and chat, but we've got to go." Riley stated as they all grabbed their sleeping bags and started to run out of the house.

"STOP!" They all froze and slowly turned back around, afraid of what Gustavo was going to say to them. "There's something I need to say."

"Well," Kendall's eyes shifted back and forth. "You can just say it to us tomorrow, so, bye!"

"Guys!" Kelly's voice stopped them again. "This is important."

Gustavo swallowed thickly and cleared his throat before turning to the guys. "We've been working together for a month now and I just wanted to say," he nervously took off his sunglasses and fiddled with them. "Although we've had our ups and downs, the truth is, I lull-"Gustavo tried to get the word out but couldn't. Kelly nudged him. "I like you." He turned to Riley and Rhuben, who looked afraid. "And I don't hate you guys; I just hate your father."

As soon as he finished, the statue behind him cracked and fell to the ground, shattering against the floor.

"We like you too." Kendall replied.

"Run!" Carlos screeched and they all turned and started to run from the house.

"Thanks for the pudding." James added before hurrying out the front door. Kendall turned and ran back to the house.

"Where are you going?" Rhuben shouted.

"To warn them about the alligator!" he replied and stuck his head through the front door. "Oh, by the way," he said to Kelly. "Don't go into the bath-"he stopped as Gustavo screamed and opened the door to the bathroom, screaming about an alligator.

"Let's get out of here!" Riley cried and they all ran down the street, arguing about whether or not to call a taxi.

"Hey, thanks for helping us with the mansion sitting," Logan stated as he put his arms around Riley's and Rhuben's shoulders as they all walked to the corner of the sidewalk to help wait for a taxi.

"If we didn't help, then you guys would have totally not been able to have finished when he got back." Rhuben replied, looking smug.

"Yeah, but you made it worse, too." James pointed out.

"Who cares?" Riley questioned as she rolled her eyes. "It was still fun. But next time, you're doing it yourself."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is so late; I had a lot of school work to get through. But here it is and I hope you liked it. I know I didn't show the parts with Katie, I thought the part with the boys were funnier.**


	13. Big Time Move

**.:****Chapter Thirteen – Big Time Move****:.**

**

* * *

**

"Cure, Katie, cure!"

"I'm _trying_!"

Patrick, Noah, and Katie were sitting on the floor of Big Time Rush's apartment, playing Kingdom Hearts on Kendall's Playstation 2. Patrick and Noah were shouting out instructions as Katie frantically slammed buttons with her fingers. Rhuben, who was watching all of them, was lying on the couch, iPod headphones in her ears, music turned up all the way. The guys were at Rocque Records working on their harmonies, and while Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah had the day off, Riley and Sydney had to work on some of their parts of their songs for a demo CD, as Ronan is working on a press conference for them.

Suddenly the phone rang, and Katie raced to answer it, as he mother was still out looking for a job, and she wasn't sure when her brother or his friends were going to get home.

"Hello?" she chirped cheerfully into the phone.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah, are they there?" Ronan's voice came through the phone smoothly. Katie smiled a little bit. Over the past few months she had gotten to know Ronan really well as he was around a lot whenever she went over to the Jacksons' apartment. He didn't act like any other adult that she knew, and was very lenient about things that they did for fun.

"Yeah, they're right here, hold on." Katie replied, the sentence catching Noah's attention. He was on his feet and standing beside her, holding his hand out for the phone before she could even turn around. "Here you go." She handed Noah the phone and he gave a soft smile in reply before moving the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" he questioned, his accent moving into his voice. "Oh, hi Ronan. Yeah, we're just sitting here playing video games. You need us back?" his eyebrows crinkled together. "Now? Ok then, we'll be there in a few minutes."

"What's up?" Rhuben asked as she turned off her iPod, seeing the expression change on Noah's face. She knew that something big was up, as he had a worried look, and he got that whenever someone told him that they needed to talk to him seriously. "Is something wrong with Sydney?"

"I'm not sure exactly, "Noah replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. "I'm positive nothing is wrong with Syd, but we have to get to the apartment right now."

"Ok," Patrick replied, looking as if he didn't believe his brother. He reached forward and turned off the game, after saving it, before turning to Katie. "D'you mind if we come back later to continue playing?" Katie shrugged.

"It doesn't matter to me; I don't really have anyone to hang out with when my brother and his friends aren't around." She smiled. "You guys are great company." Noah blushed lightly.

"We get that a lot." He replied before clearing his throat and lightly hip-checking his brother. "C'mon, let's go see what this is about."

"Is anyone as nervous as I am?" Patrick asked as soon as they were out of the apartment and on their way back to Silver Spring. "I mean, I know that Ronan wouldn't actually make a decision about anything until he talked with us about it, but still, there's a lot that we really don't have a say over."

"Are you implying something else?" Rhuben asked as she gazed over at her brother.

Patrick hesitated for a few moments as he tried to decide what it was that he wanted to say. Usually when he talked, he would purposely say something stupid just for a comic relief. He realized pretty fast that while they were getting bossed around and routinely beaten by their father that they weren't really happy. So he opted to act stupid just so he could make his friends laugh. Now he wanted to actually be serious, so it took him a bit to figure out exactly what he was trying to say.

"I mean that I'm not sure what to expect." He mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I think I know what he means," Noah piped up, tightly covering his ears when a fire truck drove by, its sirens blaring loudly. He waited until it passed before continuing his sentence. "He means that with dad gone, we actually have a say in things. And with that idea, what we could possibly do with our band is a very odd feeling."

"Exactly." Patrick replied.

Rhuben nodded silently and led her brothers into the lobby of Silver Spring, giving a nod to the receptionist as she greeted them cheerfully. Usually when they entered the apartment building, the people that were there tried to their best to stay away from them, but that was usually because the Jacksons were accompanied by their father. But as soon as the staff and other families that lived there figured out what was going on and that Robert had gone to jail, they had become exceptionally nicer. They even stopped by to see how they were doing when Ronan didn't come by.

The next few minutes found all five Jacksons in the den of their apartment, facing Ronan, who was pacing back and forth in front of them. He was muttering something quietly, hands behind his back, there were a few beads of nervous sweat on his forehead, and his short, shaggy brown hair was plastered against his head.

Sydney raised his eyebrows and looked over at Noah, who looked over at Patrick, who looked over at Rhuben, who looked over at Riley, who looked annoyed.

"So, are you going to tell us what this is about, or are we just going to sit here in suspense?" Riley questioned after a few seconds of silence. Ronan jumped and then wiped of his forehead, brushing his hands against his pants.

"Right," he cleared his throat nervously. "Well, I guess you all are wondering why I called you over here."

"We're not in trouble are we?" Patrick questioned.

"No, nothing like that." Ronan laughed a little bit, seeming to relax a little bit. "I was talking to some of the executives at the record company today and they want to take your guys' band in a totally different direction than what I was hoping."

"What do you mean?" Rhuben asked slowly as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"They feel that instead of the music that you want to do, what I discovered you for, is the kind of music that would be too scary for the demographic that they want you to stay at." Ronan explained. He was met with silence, Riley and Rhuben looked like they wanted to say something, but were holding back. Patrick and Noah looked confused. Sydney was the only one that was brave enough to venture out a question.

"What does that mean?" he asked slowly, as if he was afraid of the answer. "Does that mean that you're fired?" his eyes widened and he continued with a barrage of questions before Ronan could finish. "You are aren't you? What's going to happen now? Who's going to be our music producer? Will you still come and visit us? Will you-"

"Syd!" Patrick and Noah snapped in unison, causing the small boy to shut up with a pout. "Boy, for a kid as smart as you, you'd think you would know when to stop." Sydney puffed up his cheeks, glared, and didn't say anything.

"No, what I mean is, we talked about it and we all think that it would be a good if you changed record labels." Ronan replied and waited for a response.

"WHAT?!" the Jacksons shouted in unison before shouting questions and accusations over each other, even going as far as to wave their arms into each other's faces just to cut them off.

"That definitely wasn't the reaction that I was looking for." Ronan muttered before waving his arms wildly. "Hey, hey, HEY!" he shouted and they calmed down. "Just listen, I'm not fired, well, not really, but I thought that it would be a good idea if you wanted to be able to call your own shots with your music that you moved to Rocque Records."

"Are you aware of the fact that if we go to Rocque Records that Gustavo will now be our manager?" Rhuben demanded. "I've seen what he's done to a non-confrontational person like Logan, but think about what he'd do to Sydney!"

"Yeah, think about what he'll do to me!" Sydney added.

"Actually, guys, I think that this would be a good idea," Patrick spoke up.

"How long did you think about this? Two seconds?" Riley demanded as she turned to glare at her brother. "Hello? Do you not get this? We're changing record companies! We've been here since we got to the US!"

"Yes, but if we change record companies," he swallowed thickly as he rubbed his nose. "If we move to Rocque Records, and Ronan is still our music producer, maybe we'll be able to do what Ronan says. Have a better music career; be able to actually put the music that we want out. Be recognized for what we want to do. Because lately, all we've been doing is small concerts and doing the music that our dad wanted to." He paused as he started to pace back and forth. "Now, I'll admit that I love playing the song 'All Downhill from Here' but I don't think that dad was any serious about that getting out." He stopped pacing and looked at his siblings. "I say we give it a chance."

* * *

"You're moving to the Palm Woods?!" Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos shouted in unison, causing the Jacksons to jerk their heads back in shock at the loudness of their tone.

"Who's moving to the Palm Woods?" Camille asked as she and Jo walked over to the group of friends that were sitting at the pool's edge. "Hey guys, I haven't seen you around in a while," she stated to Riley and Rhuben. "What, have you been boy hunting without me?"

"No, we've just been busy." Rhuben replied as she rubbed her neck. "Since you guys are here, we might as well explain to everyone what's going on." She moved over on her pool chair. "Take a seat."

"Jo! Sit here!" James shouted as he shoved Kendall off of the pool chair that was next to him. "It's the best chair; you get the _best_ sun rays through the sun roof!"

"Or would you rather have a chair that is good comfort for your spine?" Logan questioned as he stood up and motioned to the chair that he was sitting in.

"Sit here!" Carlos shrieked. "I like you!"

"And I'll just stay here with my face in the ground, being too embarrassed to say a word." Kendall said from where he was casually lying on the floor.

"Boys," Katie sighed as she shook her head from where she was sandwiched in between Patrick and Noah, Sydney was sitting at her feet. "They can be _soooooo_ stupid sometimes."

"Hey" Patrick, Noah, and Sydney whined in unison.

"Sydney's the only one that you can exclude out of that," Riley commented from where she was sitting with her elbows on her knees, chin in her hands. She raised an eyebrow as she continued to watch Big Time Rush fight over who Jo was going to sit with, and she looked even more uncomfortable as each second passed.

"Guys!" she cried loudly. "I have a boyfriend, remember?"

"We were just being friendly." Logan masked his embarrassment with the first thing that came to mind.

"Sure you where," Rhuben rolled her eyes. "Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Ronan told us that the executives at Rolling Records only wanted us around so they could hit the really young demographic, most likely because Sydney the youngest." She explained. She let out a heavy sigh when she noticed that Sydney had a pout on his face. "I told you that I'm not blaming you."

"Just making sure." He replied with a cheeky smile.

Rhuben half smiled in reply before continuing with her explanation. "So Ronan and them went back and forth with ideas that they could have, until Ronan finally decided that it would be a better idea if he moved us to a different record company where we could have all of the creative liberty that we wanted."

"And you wanted to come _here?_" Carlos replied as he raised an eyebrow. "To _Gustavo_?"

"Yeah, from the stories that I've heard from them, I thought that you would want to stay away from there." Jo agreed as she shook her head. "I mean, I'm a singer myself and I'm happy that I don't have to worry about him."

"Yeah, well, we don't all agree about this, but we're willing to see how this goes." Riley replied shortly as she stood up and stretched. "Who wants to help us move?"

"I'm in," Camille grinned. "Now I can see what kind of cool stuff that you guys have."

"Hey, are you ok?" Logan asked Riley, pulling her aside as the others followed the Jacksons to start packing up their stuff.

"No," Riley replied simply and avoided Logan's sympathetic grade. Just because they were best friends, it didn't mean that she had to tell him everything.

A girl's got to have secrets.

"And I don't want to talk about it."

* * *

**A/N: This is a filler chapter, so that's why it's sort of boring and slow. The next one will be funnier though. I'm sorry that it took so long to put up. I had a lot of school work to do ,but spring break is here this Friday, so I'll have a lot of time to update next week. Thanks for reading, guys! ^-^**

**-Riley**


	14. Big Time Fashion Show

**.:Chapter Fourteen – Big Time Fashion Show:.**

**

* * *

**"Is this everything?" James asked Riley as he walked into the Jackson's apartment in the Palm Woods.

Their apartment looked exactly like the one that was shown in the lobby of the Palm Woods and Big Time Rush were jealous about it at first, but when Sydney reminded them that they were the only people to live in an apartment with a swirly slide, they took back their complaints.

"Yeah, that should be the last box," Riley stated from where she was standing in the doorway of the apartment, looking around, her hands over her chest. "Now I'm just wondering how I'm going to figure out what's in all of them."

"Why would that be hard?" James asked as he turned to her, a confused expression on his face. "They're labeled.

"Oh, I know that," Riley replied with a short nod. "I just mean that when Patrick, Noah, and Sydney get in here and start to unpack their stuff, I'm not going to remember where anything is." She replied and smiled a little bit before blinking. "Don't you have to be at the studio or something?"

"No, I have the whole day off." James replied with a large smile. "What about you?"

"Same here, but I have to do all of this," Riley replied as she opened her arms and looked around. "And _who knows_ how long _that's_ going to take."

"Why don't you just take the day off?" James asked as he looked at her and then quickly looked away. "With me?" Riley raised an eyebrow and didn't say anything. "On a date?" Riley's lip twitched and she started to laugh for a few seconds, before quickly cutting off and clearing her throat.

"Sorry, I laugh when I'm nervous." She apologized before placing her hands on her hips. "Sorry, James, but I don't feel the same way about you." She gave a half smile as she rubbed her arm. "It's totally sweet that you told me. But, I would feel kind of awkward if we didn't just stay friends."

"Wow," James gave a slight nod.

"Wow, what?" Riley repeated, not quite sure what to say.

"That's…the _first_ time a girl's ever turned me down!" James replied as she started to pace back and forth. "What was it? Did I come on too strong? Does my breath smell bad?" he stated to get up into Riley's face. "Do I need some more Cuda man spray?"

"First, you can get out my face," Riley replied and pushed James away from her with a simple push against his chest. "Second, we're just too close of friends."

"But-"

"James, Riley, you gotta come on!" Carlos cried as he ran into the room. Unfortunately, he was running too fast to stop himself and crashed into the opposite wall, leaving a helmet sized dent. James and Riley stared as Carlos waited until his head stopped spinning before jumping back up to his feet and turning to the two of them. "James, Riley, you gotta come on!" he cried again.

"What's going on, dude?" James replied, matching his enthusiasm. "Wait, let me guess, someone saw my headshots and finally decided to give me a break into modeling?"

Carlo's bright smile faded into a pout. "How'd you know?" he let out a grown, pouted, and crossed his arms over his chest. "You ruin everything!"

"Carlos, what are you talking about?"Riley snapped, starting to get impatient. Carlos became all happy and giddy again, and started to jump up and down as he grabbed onto James' and Riley's arms.

"C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, Kelly is in the lobby and she'll tell you _everything_!" he gushed as he dragged his friends down to the Palm Woods lobby where everybody else was sitting around the pool, Kelly standing in front of them. Mrs. Knight was standing off to the side, drinking a smoothie and talking to Ronan, who looked his age in casual clothes, rather than in his work clothes. Katie, though, was laughing her head off.

"You're telling me that my brother is going to be a model?" she asked and then burst out into another peal of laughter when Kelly smiled and nodded. "Kendall? A model?"

"You know it's really not that funny." Kendall defended himself, his cheeks turning a little red.

"You're not the one that's imagining your guys' ruining the whole thing," Katie stated as she rolled her eyes before turning to Kelly, a hand on her hip, the other motioning towards Kendall and his friends. "Oh come on, you've known them long enough to know that something is bound to go wrong when it comes to them being together. How can you figure that they're not going to somehow ruin this show?"

"Because they always seem to be able to find a plan that ends up making everything work." Kelly replied as she hugged her clipboard to her chest. "So I'm thinking that this is going to go over well." She turned to James, who was staring at everybody with wide eyes, still not understanding what was going on. "Ok James, I'm going to catch you up to speed, there's a charity fashion show for teenagers going on this weekend and Gustavo signed you guys up to be a part of the show," she continued as James' smile grew wider with every word. "Now, what that means is that you guys are going to be modeling the new guys' fashion for the Spring."

"But its February." Logan pointed out as he made a face.

"What you have to know about the fashion industry is that they do the next season's clothes during the season before it." Kelly explained to him and he nodded as if it was the most plausible answer. "Anyway, along with you guys being in the fashion show, you're going to close it out with one of your songs. Gustavo has decided to let you choose which one you want to perform so you can get started to practice for it."

"When _is_ this show?" Patrick asked from where he was sitting with his friends, twiddling his thumbs. "And why is it that we're here when we could be unpacking in our apartment?" Noah looked at his brother sharply, his light blue eye showing annoyance and confusion as to why his older brother was being passive aggressive.

"You guys are going to be the ones that provide the music during the show." Kelly replied. "And its

"So what you're saying is that this is sort of a little concert for us?" Patrick asked and when Ronan nodded, he got up off of the pool chair and brushed off his shorts. "Ok, thanks, let's get out of here."

Big Time Rush, Katie, Mrs. Knight, Kelly, and Ronan watched as the Jacksons got off of their chairs and left the pool area, brushing by the Jennifers and Guitar Dude, who stopped and watched them leave.

"Sorry about that," Ronan apologized and quickly hurried after them.

"Anyway," James turned everyone's attention to him. "I can't believe that the other half of my dream is coming true!" he grinned so hard that his friends were surprised that his face didn't split right in half. "Now, the only reason that I will be in utter happiness is If we get our own mansion, and I can finally marry-"

"We get the point," Kendall stated as he held a hand in front of James' face. "But there's only one problem with this whole thing."

"What's that?" Carlos asked, looking downright cheerful and excited.

"Who's going to teach you bozos how to model?" Katie asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and half smiled at her brother's friends.

* * *

"You want me to teach you guys how to model?" Jo questioned as she stared at the four boys that were standing in front of her.

"Please?" the four boys begged in unison.

Jo ran her fingers through her hair, still trying to wrap her mind around the whole idea. "When is this thing?"

"This weekend." Logan replied, smiling sheepishly.

"Let me get this straight," Jo stood up and stated to pace around. "You expect me to teach you everything I know by this weekend?" she asked. "Taking time away from _my own_ singing career to help you, so Gustavo won't scream at you anymore?"

"Yes, that's it exactly." James agreed.

"What's in it for me?" Jo asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

"The satisfaction of being able to see me every day?" James offered and gave up a winning smile. Jo's lip twitched but she didn't look moved.

"Uh, the fact that you're helping your friends, bringing you instant good karma?" Logan suggested and then frowned when he didn't get a response.

"We'll pay you!" Carlos blurted out.

"How much?" Jo questioned.

"Twenty bucks each!" Carlos offered with a sheepish smile.

"What money do we have to pay her for this?" Kendall asked his friend through gritted teeth as he grabbed his friend by the pressure points.

"Oh, so you don't want my help?" Jo asked as she turned to Kendall, looking rather miffed. Kendall's eyes widened and she looked over at her friends for help, who shook their heads and backed away from him.

"No, that's not what I said." He protested.

"It _sounded_ like that's what you said." Jo merely shrugged and turned away, grabbing her stuff from the ground beside her chair in the lobby. "Oh well, if you don't want my help, then I guess I can just go and-"

"Jo!" Kendall grabbed her wrist, keeping her from moving. "I want your help, please?" he gave a small smile.

Jo sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'll help you guys, but you have to listen to everything I say, as we only have two days to get ready for it."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Logan replied with a grin. "Now, there's one other thing that we need to figure out."

"What's that?" Kendall asked, looking confused.

"What's wrong with Patrick and the others?" Logan replied. "I mean, I can't have been the only one that noticed that they were acting really cool."

"I could help you with that one too," Jo replied and ran her fingers through her hair. "'Turns out their brother was supposed to come home for a visit, but college stuff got in the way and he isn't able to make it. Needless to say, they're really bummed about it."

"Oh."

They all fell silent, not sure what to say next. Jo broke the silence by letting out a loud sigh and gathering her things again.

"So, just meet me at the expo center at three, that's where the fashion show is being held, and then we'll go from there." Jo stated as she put her bag over her shoulder. "I have some stuff I have to meet with my agent for."

"Bye Jo." Carlos waved enthusiastically. "Thanks for the help."

Jo waved back and disappeared around the corner, as soon as she did, James, Logan, and Carlos surrounded Kendall, who looked wary.

"What?" he questioned.

"_Jo, help us, please_" James repeated in an exaggerated high-pitched voice, trying to mock Kendall. He grinned and slapped his friend on the shoulder. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Kendall repeated, sounding defensive. "I was just trying to get her to help us, because, unlike you, we don't _always_ have to go and practice modeling." He made a face. "I mean, who practices that?"

"You're changing the subject," Logan declared as he pointed a finger into Kendall's face. "And you only do that when we talk about something that you're not comfortable with. Meaning, that you're not comfortable talking about Jo. So," he grinned. "What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing." Kendall replied.

"And do you want to know _why_ nothing is going on between them?" James jumped into the conversation. "It's because she likes me."

"Dude, she likes me!" Carlos contradicted, shoving his friend in the chest. "She waved to me, not to you!" He shoved James again and the two fell to the floor, screaming at each other and slapping each other. Kendall laughed as he and Logan watched the two of them play-fight each other.

"And _that's_ why there's nothing going on between me and Jo."

* * *

"Ok, are you guys ready?" Jo asked with a forced smile as she clasped her hands together. Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos were in the makeup room, getting some foundation put on as people's faces turned really pale under the heavy lights. Jo took this as a good chance to give them a few last minute pointers and words of encouragement. "You're going to be out there soon."

"Yeah, that's why I'm sweating." Logan stated as he grabbed a tissue off of the counter in front of the mirror that he was looking into and blotting his face, right under his eyes. "Are modeling shows always this nerve wracking?"

"No, they're actually a lot of fun." Jo replied and then moved a hand in front of her smile so none of the guys could hear her. "If you know what you're doing."

"I heard that!" Kendall declared as he jabbed a finger in Jo's direction, an accusatory stare on her face. "You don't think that we can do this!"

"That's right, because you can't!" Jo, Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos looked around, not sure where the voice came from. Then there was an impatient sigh from behind them. "Hello! Over here!" The five of them turned around and Big Time Rush did the loudest, most exaggerated gasps, which caused Jo to jump and look around, a face that showed that she thought that everybody was crazy. "Yes! It's me!" Wayne Wayne walked over to them, dressed in 'spring time clothes' although he still had his black hat, small goatee, and permascowl.

"Wayne Wayne!" Carlos shouted and jumped out of his chair before diving to the ground.

"What kind of name is Wayne Wayne?" Jo questioned, wrinkling her nose.

"The kind of name name you get when you're tough tough!" Wayne Wayne snapped in reply and then looked Jo up and down with distaste. "Barbie!"

"Leave her alone." Kendall demanded as he got up in Wayne Wayne's face. Wayne Wayne growled and Kendall backed up to the vicinity of his friends. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm in the show." Wayne Wayne smirked in reply.

"_You're_ going to be a model?" Logan questioned and started laughing. Wayne Wayne glared at him and Logan jumped back behind Kendall and James and forced the two together so he wouldn't be seen. "I mean, you're going to be a _great_ model!"

"That's what I thought you said." Wayne Wayne smiled for a second and then smirked. "Now, I can finally get revenge on you guys. You better watch out during the show show, because Wayne Wayne is going to get you back!"

He pointed at his eyes with two of his fingers and then pointed to the four guys before leaving the room with a loud snap.

"Who was that moron?" Jo asked as she turned back to the four of them.

"Yeah and why did he leave the room speaking like an idiot idiot?" Rhuben added as she and her siblings walked into the dressing room, dressed in matching clothes but in their respective colors. A t-shirt of their favorite color, a black vest over it, and grey and white camouflage pants.

"Have you always had that bandage on your arm?" Logan asked Riley, pointing to her right arm. There was a bandage that went from her fingers up the arm, to the sleeve of her shirt. She nodded.

"Yeah, but it's usually covered by a shirt," she replied and smoothly changed the subject. "So who was that guy?"

"Wayne Wayne is the guy that we were telling you about." Carlos replied as he got off of the floor. "The one that tried to kick Kendall out of the group."

Big Time Rush sucked in a deep breath and started to look towards the ceiling and Noah made a movement of frustration. "Oh we don't have time for your stupid little flashback right now!" he snapped. "Listen, you have two minutes to get out there and model, as best as you can-"

"Which really isn't that great" Patrick interjected. "Ow!" he received an elbow in the ribs on both sides by Riley and Sydney.

"And make sure that Wayne Wayne doesn't ruin everything." Noah concluded and then laughed nervously and spread his arms out. "I mean, what could go wrong?"

"Since you asked it, probably nothing, but if Patrick asked it, probably everything." Sydney replied and then looked at the apprehensive looks on Big Time Rush's faces. "But don't worry; there are only four songs that we're doing, which mean that there are only four changes of clothes that you're going through. So, what I'm thinking is that if we speed up the songs that we sing," he turned to his siblings. "Just like the way that dad made us practice some times," he turned back to Big Time Rush. "And all will be fine."

"Syd, you may be smart, but sometimes you can be a little oblivious." Riley stated as she patted her baby brother on the head. He pouted a little bit and scratched his head as Riley continued. "There are too many executives, fashion designers, music producers, and not to mention fans-"

"And many of our friends and family," Rhuben jumped in.

"Sitting in the audience," Riley continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "So we can't do that. But what we _can _do is try to keep Wayne Wayne from doing anything wrong."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Jo asked.

"I have an idea." Riley replied with a raised eyebrow and a triumphant smirk. Kendall slowly raised his hand.

"Kendall?" Rhuben asked, as if she was calling on him in class.

"Yeah," he lowered his hand, looking a little dejected. "How come I didn't think of the idea?" Riley rolled her eyes and moved over to Kendall and whispered into his ear. "OH!" his eyes widened and he punched the air. "I have an idea!"

Logan rolled his eyes and laughed a little bit before all ten of them moved into a huddle to discuss the plan to get rid of Wayne Wayne.

* * *

"Hello and welcome to the twentieth annual Pop Tiger fashion show! I'm Alyssa Freeman from Pop Tiger and I'm glad to be announcing the show this year" the announcer called, among the screams, cheers, and multiple camera flashes. "We have some great fashions here today, and for your musical entertainment throughout the show we have the DarkElements! Give them a hand!"

"Good Avro, Los Angeles!" Sydney said into his microphone as he and his siblings waved cheerfully. "Thanks for having us!"

"Thanks for being here!" Alyssa continued as she brushed her hair off of her shoulder. "Anyway, like I said, we have some great fashions here today and I can't wait for you all to see it. But for you teenage girls out there, as a treat for you, the upcoming boy band Big Time Rush is sporting some of the Spring fashions, and is going to perform a special song to close the show."

She grinned and pulled the microphone out of her mouth as there were deafening screams of 'Big Time Rush, I love you!' 'Kendall, Marry Me!', 'James, I love you' and screams like that.

"I'm glad you're excited, and to keep up with this excitement let's get this show started!" Alyssa turned and waved an arm towards the DarkElements, who got ready to sing, as she hurried off the stage so the show could start.

"Here we go" Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang in unison as the music started and then all five of them joined in.

"Here we go, one more time, everybody's feeling fine. Here we go now."

The DarkElements sang happily, even getting the audience to participate in some songs as the fashion show went by. Katie, Kelly, Gustavo, Ronan, and Mrs. Knight sat in the front row, to support the guys. And surprisingly, and unfortunately for Katie, they didn't do that bad. Sure, they couldn't walk to a steady beat and James was smiling too much to try and get attention on himself to model as well as he bragged, but it wasn't that bad.

They were all on edge though, the paranoia of Wayne Wayne being there taking a toll on their performance. Jo stood backstage to give them tips when they passed her for a change of clothes, and to keep an eye on Wayne Wayne. So far, nothing had happened and the show was drawing to a close, much to the relief of Big Time Rush, Jo, and the DarkElements.

But, as it usually would happen with these boys, Wayne Wayne decided that he would strike at the end of the show. And what happened was definitely memorable.

The guys had just gotten back out onstage for their final performance. Earlier they had decided to do 'Any Kind of Guy', as they needed to work on that song the most, and Katie said that it was one of her favorites. So, knowing that Kendall's sister was a fan, and was a pre-teen girl, that a lot of other girls would feel the same way, they stuck with the idea.

"And here they are for the closing performance of Any Kind of Guy, its Big Time Rush!" Alyssa called into her microphone and hurried offstage to watch. (She's a closet Big Time Rush fan herself.) Teenage girls and photographers moved to the front of the stage, while Gustavo sat back, biting his nails, occasionally glancing over at reporters that were writing in notepads.

"Here I am, there you are. Why does it seem so far? Next to you is where I should be" James sang into his microphone as he and Carlos moved to the catwalk of the stage.

"Where I wanna be" Carlos sang into his microphone and smiled over at James, who smiled back.

"Something I want so bad, know what's inside your head. Maybe I could see what you see."

"Tell me what you see" Carlos sang and then moved back out of the way as Logan moved to the front of the stage to start singing himself.

"Gotta keep on believing that everything takes time. I'll make up any reason to make you mine." He sang as he pointed to a few of the girls in the front row, causing them to scream and jump up and down. "If you're staying or leaving, I'll follow your lead. So why keep pretending? Open your eyes; I can be what you need."

Backstage, Jo and the DarkElements were watching the guys sing and dance, bobbing their heads along with the music, not really paying attention to what Wayne Wayne was doing.

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be. Turn myself upside down." The four of them sang in unison, standing towards the back of the stage as they did their dance moves to the song.

"Yes I will, yes I will" Logan sang in a high pitched voice, smiling, and trying not to laugh at the same time.

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree. Turn your whole world around"

"Yes I will, yes I will"

"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind, I will be there. Won't you try, one more try, be my any kind of girl. You decide, It's alright I will be there."

"Hey, what's he doing?" Sydney's voice suddenly rang out and Jo, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah turned to see Wayne Wayne standing at the back wall, near them, and untying a rope. Jo looked up, following where it was going with her eyes, and gasped when she saw that it was attached to sand bags.

"Hey! You can't do that!" she shouted, grateful that her voice was drowned out by the screaming audience, and ran over to Wayne Wayne. "Stop stop!" she demanded before rolling her eyes, realizing how stupid she sounded.

"Try and stop me, Barbie!" Wayne Wayne snarled in reply and continued what he was doing. Jo grabbed onto Wayne Wayne's arms and they struggled with the rope that was attached to the sand bags. The DarkElements watched as the sand bag swung back and forth overhead, casually looking back and forth from the stage to the sand bag.

"You seem so hard to know, say goodbye, say hello. Then you say that it's time to go" Carlos sang into his microphone as Logan stood next to him.

"Now it's time to go." Logan sang.

"Changing my point of view, everyday something new. Anything to get next to you"

"Gonna get to you."

"Uh Jo?" Patrick questioned as he watched the sandbag swing back and forth harder and harder. "Jo!"

"What?!" Jo shrieked, pausing long enough for Wayne Wayne to finish untying the sandbag and send it crashing to the stage towards Kendall. Jo clasped her hands over her eyes as he started to sing.

"Gotta keep on believing, that everything takes time. I'll make up any reason, to make you mine." He sang and moved out of the way just as the sandbag hit the stage. He glanced over at the sandbag and then offstage with wide eyes, before slightly relaxing and looking back towards the audience. Katie and Mrs. Knight looked worried and Gustavo, Kelly, and Ronan had 'wtf' expressions on their faces.

"If you're staying or leaving, I'll follow your lead. So why keep pretending? Open your eyes; I can be what you need."

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be." The four boys sang as they danced across the stage.

"That's the guy I'll be." Kendall sang and smiled towards his sister, who smiled and waved back.

"Turn myself upside down."

"Yes I will, yes I will."

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree."

"You know I'll agree."

"Turn your whole world around."

"Yes I will, yes I will."

By this time, three more sandbags fell, and Big Time Rush were able to dance out of the way, and then freeze when they saw what had happened, nervously glancing back offstage, and then at the audience, trying to get them to believe that what was happening was supposed to happen. Gustavo was crying into Kelly's shoulder, Mrs. Knight and Ronan were talking in a very heated discussion, and Katie was starting to figure out that something was going wrong.

Offstage, Jo and The DarkElements were chasing Wayne Wayne around, trying to get him to stop. Patrick and Noah jumped onto his back and were trying to wrestle him to the ground, effectively getting the three of them pushed out onto the stage. Wayne Wane froze as Big Time Rush looked over at them, with matching confused expressions.

Wayne Wayne jumped to his feet, just in time to Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney to tackle him again and force him offstage, although they were still standing on stage. When they realized what happened, they froze like deer in headlights, just like Patrick and Noah had.

Jo grabbed Wayne Wayne, kicked him in the groin, and shoved him into the arms of security guards, who came to investigate what was going on. As Big Time Rush continued, the Jacksons quickly fell into their own stage formation and randomly threw one of their dance routines, but slowed down to fit the speed of the song.

"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind. I will be there. Won't you try, one more try? Be my any kind of girl. You decide, it's alright, I will be there."

Kendall looked over at Jo and then moved over towards her as he continued to sing, causing a large grin to slide on to Jo's face. "Let me know if I'm getting through." He sang and pulled her onstage, although she was protesting it, by dragging her feet on the ground.

"Making you understand." Carlos sang as he moved to the front of the stage.

If it's wrong I'll try something new." James sang as he smiled over at Riley, who gave a small smile in reply. In that look, was an undisguised look of understanding. It took James a few days to realize it, that although he did like Riley in a more than friends way, it was better if they just stayed friends.

"Don't look away, 'cause I'm here to stay." Big Time Rush sang as Patrick and Noah hurried forward and pulled Katie onto the stage. "If it's a game, then I'm gonna play."

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be. (That's the guy I'll be.) Turn myself upside down (yes I will, yes I will)." Big Time Rush and The DarkElements, who still had their head mics on, sang as they circled around Jo and Katie, much to the jealousy of the other girls who were watching the show. "Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree (you know I'll agree). Turn your whole world around (yes I will, yes I will)"

"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind. I will be there (I'll be there). Won't you try? One more try? Be my any kind of girl. You decide, it's alright, I will be there."

Big Time Rush finished their song and smiled as the audience, Jo, Katie, and Big Time Rush clapped and cheered for them, letting the boys know that it was a good show, even though some weird things had happened.

"Nice job guys, I didn't think that you had it in you." Rhuben commented as she jokingly punched Logan on the shoulder.

"It was a lot of fun," Carlos agreed. "I think that we should do another one."

"NO!" Came the unanimous reply, mixed in with groans and laughter.

* * *

**A/N: So, what did you guys think? I thought it would have been really funny to bring back Wayne Wayne to get revenge on the guys and this is what came up. And I got the idea of Jo helping the guys with modeling because Katelyn Tarver, who plays Jo, is a model in real life. Thanks for reading and the next chapter will be up as soon as possible.**

**-Riley**


	15. Big Time Paparazzi Pt1

**.:Chapter Fifteen – Big Time Paparazzi pt.1:.**

**

* * *

**Logan was minding his own business, taking a shower one morning when he realized that things had started to change. Just getting out of the shower, he tied a towel around his waist and starte3d to walk over to the mirror and sink, when something at the window caught his eye. Expecting it to be Camille, he ignored it, until a bright flash nearly blinded him.

"What the…" escaped his lips as he grabbed onto the sink, blinking rapidly to try and clear his vision. Turning around, Logan's mouth dropped open when he saw some older guy at the window with a large camera up to his face. "What are you doing?" he demanded as he tried, in vain, to cover himself.

"That's great, Logan, give me more rage!" the guy cried.

In bewilderment, Logan dove towards the window, and pulled the blinds shut, before quickly leaving the bathroom, looking over his shoulder warily, as if someone was going to jump out of the shower.

* * *

Carlos was walking back from an afternoon by himself in downtown LA when he suddenly had the feeling that someone was following him. Slowly creeping to a stop, Carlos looked around and across the street to see if there was someone around that seemed shady to him. And that would be a stretch as Carlos is the kind of person that will try and make friends with anyone that he meets, no matter how weird that person thinks he is.

There seemed to be no one around.

As soon as Carlos turned back to face the direction that he was going in, he jumped when he saw that there was a camera in his face. Before he could say anything, a bright flash went off and then there were thousands more.

"Uh, what's going on?" Carlos asked nervously as he tried to back up, out of their way, but the circle just moved in tighter. The cameramen (and women) were shouting directions at Carlos and moving in even closer, causing Carlos to start to feel a little claustrophobic.

"Carlos, look over here!"

"Carlos, smile for me."

"Carlos, is it true that you have a fake accent?"

Carlos started to get nervous with all of the questions. He stammered out a few sentences when a question was thrown his way, but he was starting to get nerved. Desperately, Carlos shoved his way out of the circle and started to run back to the Palm Woods.

* * *

Kendall was talking to Jo when he started to get bombarded by the paparazzi. He noticed that something was up when he heard the fake plants behind him by the poolside were rustling. Jo raised an eyebrow questioningly and Kendall just smiled sweetly.

"It's probably just my sister," he stated before turning around to face the plant with clenched teeth. "Who was_ just_ leaving!"

"Kendall, you sister is over there talking to Riley and Patrick." Jo stated as she pointed across the pool deck. Kendall followed her gaze and was confused to see that she was right.

"If she's over there, than who is…" Kendall's eyes narrowed and he turned back to the plant and was momentarily blinded. Before Jo and Kendall could do anything, they were swamped by photographers getting too close and asking questions along the lines of whether or not they were a couple.

"How long have you been dating?"

"Kendall, are you really attracted to blondes? What about brunettes?"

"Kendall, does your family like Jo?"

"I thought you were dating Jennifer!"

"We're _not_ dating!" Jo called as loudly as she could, but was unable to be heard over the commotion.

She looked very uncomfortable and Kendall looked lost, not sure what to do. Across the pool deck, Katie was looking over in curiosity, and Riley and Patrick were watching with apathetic looks on their faces. Kendall briefly w0ondered why they weren't doing anything to help him and Jo until his attention was averted back to the reporter that had just asked him a question.

"Kendall, you moved out here with your mom and your sister…where's your father?"

As fast as a snake, Kendall shoved the guy back and glared fiercely at him.

"Get out of here!" she shouted loudly. "Leave us alone!"

"Paparazzi!" Bitters, the Palm Woods manager suddenly called as he hurried into the pool area as fast as he could go. "Security! There's Paparazzi in here! Get em' out!"

Everybody in the pool area stopped what they were doing and watched as the paparazzi were ushered out of the Palm Woods pool. Kendall was breathing heavily, his hands clenched into fists as he watched them leave the pool.

"Kendall?" Jo gently placed a hand on Kendall's shoulder and Kendall flinched for a second before looking at her and calming down instantly. "Kendall, are you ok?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied simply. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap like that."

"It's fine." She replied simply, looking at him with an odd expression on her face.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Kendall let out a huge breath of air and left the Palm Woods pool with long, angry strides. He walked all the way back to his apartment and was bombarded by his friends almost as soo0n as he stepped foot through the door.

'Kendall! Did you get stalked by Paparazzi today?" Logan demanded in a tight voice instead of a greeting.

'Yeah, why?" Kendall replied and raised his eyebrows. "Did you guys get hit too?"

"Yeah, but James is the only one that actually enjoyed it." Carlos replied as he jerked his thumb over to his friend who was grinning like crazy.

"Of course I'm happy with it!" James cried as everybody turned to look at him. "I mean, isn't it a _good _thing if they're taking our pictures? Does it give us _more_ publicity? Doesn't it make it better for us to have our CD's bought?"

"It is unless they print out stories that are lying about you." Mrs. Knight commented from where she was sitting at the kitchen table with Katie, who had snuck into the apartment, unseen by her brother. She studied her son and could tell by her motherly intuition and the way that he was standing, that something was bothering him.

"Oh," James' smile faded. "That could be a problem."

"I talked to Riley and Rhuben about this once," Logan stated as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember what they had said exactly. "They said that at first the idea of having stories written about you is cool. But they can easily twist your words around to something that you didn't say. And they do that on purpose because they're possibly working for a rival, or because they just don't like you in general." He shrugged. 'The music business, realistically, is tough."

"Hmm, you don't think that _they're_ the ones that hired the Paparazzi do you?" James asked slowly as he rubbed his chin.

'AHA!" Carlos shouted. "That makes plenty of sense."

"No it doesn't!" Katie declared from where she was sitting quietly. "The Jacksons are our friends; they wouldn't do that to you!"

"We've only known them for three months or so, we don't know that for sure!" Carlos snapped back.

"Enough!" Kendall declared, frowning firmly. "Katie's right, they wouldn't do that to us." He turned to Logan and raised his eyebrows in question.

"She's right, they wouldn't." Logan agreed.

"Kendall, are you ok, man?" James asked as he looked over at his best friend. Usually Kendall didn't get that impatient with them, just because they were that close to each other. Plus, like Kendall's mom, he could tell whenever something was bothering him.

"I'm fine." Kendall replied simply, avoiding his friend's gaze.

There was a loud bang on the door that caused the Knights, Logan, Carlos, and James to jump loudly. There was a shout of 'OW' from behind the door and then it slowly opened to show Riley and Patrick standing behind the door, rubbing their foreheads, their siblings laughing hysterically.

"What's going on?" Katie giggled a little bit as she jumped down from the chair that she was sitting on and hurried over to the Jacksons.

"Riley and Patrick were chasing each other to the room and they didn't stop in time and ran head first into the door." Rhuben replied and motioned to the door that now held two large circles in the doorway.

"Well, it's not like Patrick can lose anymore brain cells anyway," Sydney stated as if it happened every day. He beamed and walked over to Katie, giving her a large hug. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, how are you?"

"Good."

"Suck up" Patrick and Noah muttered in unison and then gave each other identical looks with a raised eyebrow. Patrick looked like he wanted to talk to his twin about something but stayed quiet.

"Anyway, we were just going over to talk to Gustavo about our contract and stuff," Rhuben explained after briefly waving her hello to Mrs. Knight. "You know, just to make sure that we wouldn't get stiffed about something and we wanted to ask you guys what to expect."

"That and we were bored as it is." Riley agreed, brushing her red strand out of her blue eyes.

"Why not, we have to go see him before tomorrow anyway." Logan replied.

"Why?" Noah stated simply as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

'Because they need to talk to Gustavo about what kinds of grades they have." Mrs. Knight replied and walked over to the boys and placed her hands on Logan's and Carlo's shoulders. "Because if their grades slip, then they won't be able to make music and they won't be able to go on a summer tour. Your grades haven't slipped have they?"

Kendall, Carlos, and James looked stricken as Logan smiled smugly. "Mine haven't." he gloated and stuck his tongue out at his friends. Carlos and James whacked him on the back of the head.

"Ha, now you have the same brains as us!" Carlos crowed.

'No," Logan scowled. "Mine's extra big, so you just made it _slightly_ smaller."

"So, we heard that you guys got stalked by the Paparazzi today." Riley commented loudly, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, it was really annoying and kind of creepy.' Carlos agreed. "They kind of knew things about us that we didn't know they knew, ya know?"

"Barely," Rhuben stated with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway, we'll make a deal with you."

"You guys love to make deals don't you?" Kendall questioned as he shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "We're listening."

"We'll help you with your paparazzi, as long as you agree to help us with something that we'll name later." Rhuben explained and then continued when she saw Big Time Rush's wary glances. "It's nothing that will get you killed and I'm almost positive that you'll have fun with it."

"Are you sure?" Logan questioned. "Because the last time you said that, I ended up with a sprained ankle and a broken wrist."

"Operator Error" Riley and Rhuben chorused.

"C'mon guys, it's really worth your while." Sydney added and gave a pout, sticking out his lower lip as far as it could go.

"Deal." James agreed with a grin.

"Cool, let's go then." Patrick cheered and led the way out of the apartment. Mrs. Knight grabbed Kendall's arm before he could leave.

"Kendall, what did they ask you today?" Mrs. Knight asked gently. "And don't try to deny that anything's wrong, because I gave birth to you, so I know when you're upset."

"Did you have to play the birth card?" Kendall asked in embarrassment as he rolled his eyes.

"Kendall" his mother only had to say his name for Kendall to know that she meant business.

"They asked me about dad and, I don't know," Kendall ran his hands through his hair, letting out a deep breath. "I lost it."

'Kendall, your dad leaving wasn't your fault.' Mrs. Knight said gently as she hugged her son. "I've told you that a million times. Your father decided to leave because he didn't feel as if she was happy."

'If it wasn't my fault, mom, then why do I always feel so bad whenever I think about him?" Kendall replied just as quietly before turning and leaving his mother in the now empty apartment.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this is a short chapter and sorry it took so long for this to be updated. I have turned in my school's laptop about a week and a half ago. I could go on the internet on my wii, but wasn't able to update anything. And I just graduated from high school yesterday, so I'm on an emotional high right now. Thanks for still reading though, guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, no matter how short it was.**


	16. Big Time Paparazzi Pt2

**.:Chapter Sixteen – Big Time Paparazzi pt.2:.**

**

* * *

**

"So, Gustavo, all we're asking for is that you take it easy on these guys," Logan concluded his statement. All around him, his friends were somewhat falling asleep as his speech had taken twenty minutes to get to the point. "Even though they're experienced in the whole music industry, they're not experienced with working with you."

Logan looked up from his sheet of paper and frowned when he noticed that Gustavo was snoring loudly, his arms resting on the sound board. Kelly woke up when she heard that Logan had stopped talking and nudged Gustavo's side, causing him to snort loudly and wake up himself.

'Yes! Well! They're just going to have to deal with my methods to get the job done!" Gustavo stated loudly, causing Sydney to wince and cover his ears with his hands.

"Right," Patrick replied as he nodded slowly. "Anyway we have a few things that we need to tell you."

'Such as?" Gustavo barked.

"We don't practice on Saturdays because that's our day off," Rhuben replied and started to count off on her fingers. "We only do interviews with Popstar, Bop, Tiger Beat, Seventeen, and Teen Vogue magazines, and everything else that you would need to know will come on a need to know basis."

"WHAT?" Gustavo shouted in outrage.

"Anything else you need to know you will either get on a need to know basis, or you can just ask Ronan." Noah added with a cheeky smile. He raised a hand and waved enthusiastically. "Bye!"

The Jacksons turned and walked out of the studio calmly, Big Time Rush following behind them, mouths dropped open in shock.

"So, what did you need us for?" James demanded.

"Oh, we knew that Gustavo was either going to get mad at you for something or that Logan will bore him to sleep," Rhuben explained and shot Logan a quick 'no offense'. "So we figured that we would let that happen before we tried to negotiate what we had when we were at Rolling Records."

"You used us" Carlos declared as his mouth dropped open.

"Not exactly," Noah replied with an uneasy half-smile. "We just used the circumstances to our advantage." He paused and then nodded. "Yeah, we used you."

"But that doesn't really matter now," Katie interrupted the conversation as she placed her hands on her hips and looked at her brother and her friends. "What you need to worry about is the paparazzi problem. If this keeps up, we won't be able to leave the hotel at all!"

"Don't worry about that, we have an idea." Patrick sated as a mischievous smile slid onto his face.

"How bad of an idea is it this time?" Riley asked with a sigh as she placed her hands on her hips and gazed at her brother with pursed lips, waiting for his reply. He laughed nervously.

"What makes you think that it's a bad idea?" he questioned.

"Because you've been following me around since you could walk, I'm pretty sure that something that I have done wrong is what you're thinking of."

"Well, I can honestly say that this time, this plan is good." Patrick replied and smiled sweetly, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Do you mean this week?" Sydney replied.

* * *

"I thought that your idea was going to be something a little bit cleverer than wearing disguises." Kendall grumbled as he messed with the mustache that they had glued to his face.

"I don't know, I think I look good as a doctor." Logan smiled to himself as he looked down at the scrubs that he was wearing.

"Yeah, but it would be better if I wasn't your nurse." Carlos grumbled in reply as he tugged at the dress that he was wearing. "You'd think that they would have a better uniform than the one that only goes down to their thighs. My legs are cold." He complained.

"Sorry but it was the only thing that we could get out of the costume closet at such short notice." Sydney apologized as he twiddled his thumbs together. "But think of it this way, if you're dressed like this at the Palm Woods pool after Bitters threw out the Paparazzi, you should be fine."

"Yeah, but now we have to worry about all of these fine girls laughing t us!" James shrieked under his clown makeup. Just as he said that, the Jennifers and the new girl, Stephanie King, walked by, giggling to themselves. "You see!"

"Well, what's better?" Rhuben offered as she snorted a little bit, her shoulders shaking. "Being in costume or being hounded by camera stalkers?"

"But why did _I_ have to dress up too?" Katie demanded, looking miserable in biker clothes. She had to put her hair up in a black bandana too. "I look like a guy!"

"But you can totally pull it off." Noah said reassuringly.

"At least, you want her too." Riley cracked before she could stop herself. Noah blushed as her siblings all burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, Katie. But they know that you're Kendall's sister, so you had to be disguised as well. Because soon they'll be following you around, trying to get information on Kendall."

"You guys seem to know a lot about what's going on with the paparazzi." Logan commented with a raised eyebrow. "As if you know it from firsthand experience."

"Not exactly." Sydney replied as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. Before anyone could say anything else, Camille rushed over and grabbed Logan by the front of his scrubs.

"We can't tell anyone about our secret relationship, Dr. McDreamy." She gushed with over the top antics. "If we do, we'll lose our jobs!"

"Camille-"

Camille slapped a hand over Logan's mouth, keeping him from continuing with his sentence. "Shh, now's not the time for speaking!" she cried and moved her hand, kissing him passionately. She pulled away, shoving Logan backwards a few steps in the process. "I have to get back to the medical ward!" with that, she turned and sauntered away, a determined look in her eyes.

"Grey's Anatomy?" Katie guessed and the Jacksons nodded.

"As we were talking about before, we didn't really have paparazzi that were following us around." Noah said and winced a little bit at the memory as he and his siblings slowly looked up towards the ceiling, thoughtful expressions on their faces.

_The Jacksons were minding their own business, walking home from the mall when Noah stopped and cocked his head to the side, looking at the sky, as if he was thinking of something. Patrick, who didn't notice, walked right into him and stumbled back a few steps. He cried out in pain and slapped his brother on the arm._

_"What'd you-?"_

_"Shh, he's listening!" Sydney interrupted Patrick and waited for his brother to come out of his trance. Noah let out a breath and then looked sort of scared, "What do you hear?"_

_"The sound of fans screaming and running towards us, I'm guessing" Rhuben said, her voice shaking slightly._

_"How'd you know that?" Noah asked, his eyebrows crinkling together as he turned to look at his older sister._

_"Because there're fans coming up in front of us, and there are fans coming from behind us" Rhuben replied and smiled wistfully. "This reminds me of what happened back in Australia. Attack of the killer fans, you guys remember that game right?"_

_"How do you play?" Riley asked with a sly smirk tugging at her lips._

_"You run away from the fans, before one of them can touch you!" Rhuben replied and leapt into the street, ignoring the honking cars, running as fast as she could the others following her._

"The Jacksons shuddered at the thought as they turned their attention back to their friends. "Fastest I had ever seen girls in high-heels run." Noah commented.

"Whatever, we have to get to the studio soon and…" Logan's voice trailed off as he looked around suspiciously at the sudden bright flash.

"Was that lightning?" James asked as he stuck his hand out as if he was trying to catch rain, looking around.

"We're in a _closed pool area_,of course it wasn't lightning!" Katie replied as she rolled her eyes. "Man, boys can be dumb sometimes."

"So that means that the PAPARAZZI HAVE FOUND US!" Carlos shouted. "AAH!" He dove behind James and Kendall, pushing them together so they were a human blocking shield.

"We don't know that for sure," Logan stated as he slowly started to move backwards. "Let's just get of here and then we can-"Logan tripped over the leg of a pool chair and tripped, falling towards the pool. He grabbed onto James, to try and steady himself, but that resulted in all of them falling into the pool, their disguises falling/washing off of them.

"Nice going." Kendall coughed as he ripped the police hat off of his head.

"Uh, guys." Katie pointed over to the side of the pool and they were all suddenly blinded by bright flashes as a lot of questions were being thrown their way.

"Don't just sit there!" They heard Patrick shout. "Run!"

Big Time Rush scrambled out of the pool and ran away from the paparazzi. Unfortunately, the paparazzi weren't going to give up the chase and they just ran after them, shouting even louder and taking even more pictures. They ran all the way to Rocque Records, screaming loudly, and into Gustavo's office.

"What are you doing?" Gustavo demanded when he saw them.

"WE'RE BEING CHASED BY PAPARAZZI, HELP US!" The four boys chorused.

"Freight Train!" Gustavo snapped and went back to what he was looking at on the computer. Big Time Rush watched as Gustavo's enforcer, Freight Train, walked out of Gustavo's office and stood in the doorway. The paparazzi slowed to a walk when they saw him and fell silent.

Freight Train smiled and easily picked them all up and walked out of the studio. "Yeah, you don't have to worry about them anymore." Gustavo remarked.

"Finally." Kendall sighed and ripped off the mustache that he was wearing. His eyes widened as they teared, opening his mouth to scream.

"_In other news, there was a reported 4.0 magnitude earthquake today. No one knows how or why it was formed."_


	17. Big Time Friendly Competition

**.:Chapter Seventeen – Big Time Friendly Competition:.

* * *

**

"I'm telling you, it's true!"

"No, it's not!"

Gustavo growled as he watched Logan and Carlos fight back and forth in the studio. He started to growl a little louder, and reached his hand out for the intercom button. Kelly noticed that his hand was shaking and quickly dove forward, trying to keep him from jamming his fist onto the button and screaming at the boys.

"It's better if you let them settle their differences themselves." She stated as she slowly pulled her hand away.

"Right, you're right." Gustavo replied and crossed his arms over his chest, taking deep breaths. His breaths got shallower and shorter as he watched the fight escalate into all four boys arguing with each other. He gritted his teeth in annoyance and sucked in a deep breath before darting forward and slamming his fist onto the intercom button.

"I DON'T PAY YOU TO GOOF OFF, DOGS! I PAY YOU TO WORK AND TO WORK HARD. STOP WASTING MY TIME AND SHUT UUUUUUUUUP!"

With that bellow, the glass separating the boys from Gustavo cracked, causing the boys to jump and back away, screaming in fear.

"Ok," Kelly sighed and laughed a little bit. "I think that we should take a break for today." She looked at her watch. "It's almost twelve o'clock and you guys have been working on this for a long time. Nice job today." She looked up and smiled brightly. "Don't forget, you guys have to study hard or you're not going to be able to go on the summer tour."

"Blah, blah, blah, we know." James stated as she rolled his eyes. "C'mon dudes, let's hit the pool and-"

"I wasn't done," Kelly interrupted. "If you don't get good grades, you're not going to be able to go anywhere during your 'Spring Break' from school." She used air quotes around the words. "Instead, you'll be stuck in the studio doing drills with Gustavo every day."

Logan laughed triumphantly as Kendall, James, and Carlos groaned and rolled their eyes. Leave it to Gustavo to make them get the short end of the stick either way. Studying really hard, which they already hated to do, or stay with Gustavo for a week while everybody else at the Palm Woods went on vacation.

"Shut up!" Carlos snapped as she smacked Logan on the back of the head. "Keep that up and soon you'll be dumb like the rest of us." He stuck his tongue out as Logan tried to hit him on the back of the head, but his helmet blocked the way.

"Come on guys, you know that eventually you're going to have to learn how to study and do your homework by yourselves if you want to get further in life." Logan criticized as the boys walked back to the Palm Woods, trying to get by people who were blocking the sidewalks.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kendall and James muttered in reply, not really paying attention. They were too busy watching a blonde girl in a v-neck and tight jeans walk by. "Dude" they grinned at each other and gave each other high-fives.

"Excuse me," Logan interrupted as he looked pointedly at Kendall and smirked. "But aren't you dating Jo right now?"

"No, not really." Kendall replied smoothly as he walked around her.

"What do you mean, not really?" Carlos asked as he looked at his friend in confusion. "You two were just flirting up a storm yesterday. And we all know for a fact, because of your sister, that she doesn't have a boyfriend."

"I know that." Kendall replied as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "But I'm not sure if I'm ready for it yet, especially since we just moved out here and we're always going after Gustavo's every beck and call-"

"And you're completely avoiding the subject because you're hiding something, Kendall Knight!" James declared as he ruffled Kendall's hair and shoved him.

"Excuse me?" Kendall laughed and shoved him back as James and Carlos grinned at each other, knowing that James was getting ready for a speech about girls and how they act.

"The only time that you completely and utterly change the subject without any warning, is when you're hiding something." James explained with a grin. "You're kind of a girl like that and girls only do that whenever they like someone and don't want that person to know." His smile grew wider. "So this means that you either like Jo or-"

"Or it's none of your business." Kendall replied as she mock-stuck his nose in the air and walked faster. He grinned and turned around, lightly shoving James in the chest. "I don't see you with any girl." He raised his eyebrows. "Unless, of course, you're still going after Riley."

"I thought that you said that you were just going to stay friends." Logan stated as he turned towards James, who didn't deny Kendall's accusation. "At least, that's what she told me."

"Yeah, well, I'm me, and after a while, every girl is going to fall for me." James declared as they finally reached the Palm Woods.

"Yeah," Carlos snorted. "Off a cliff to get away from you."

James couldn't help but laugh along with his friends as they entered the Palm Woods, instantly getting shushed by Bitters, who was sitting at his desk, watching something on his laptop. Carlos raised his eyebrows, not sure what was going on and then noticed that Stephanie, Jo, Camille, Katie, and the Jacksons were lounging around the lobby, looking annoyed.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, taking the free spot next to Stephanie. He winced as he was shushed again.

"Bitters has made up a new rule," Stephanie replied as she rolled her eyes and turned towards a large whiteboard that was posted in the lobby. Big Time Rush leaned over to look at it.

**Bitters' Palm Woods Rules**

**No shouting**

**No yelling**

**No talking**

**No horseplay**

**No hockey in the lobby**

**No hockey in the Palm Woods at all**

**No singing in the lobby**

**No lounging around the pool after 9:00**

There were many others that they had seen before, and then they noticed the new one.

**25. Apart from no talking at all, absolutely NO talking, yelling, shouting, horseplay when I'm in the lobby**

"So, why don't you guys just go to the pool?" Logan asked as if it was obvious.

"Because he locked the pool," Jo replied as she rolled her brown eyes and made a face of disgust. "And the only reason that we're not going up to our rooms is because he blocked off the stairs." She sighed. "Apparently _someone_ caused noxious gas to be formed up there while working on a science project."

"I said I was sorry." Sydney shrugged in reply.

"So for now we're the only ones left in the Palm Woods." Jo continued.

"Where's mom?" Kendall asked Katie, who was sandwiched in between Patrick and Noah. He snorted a little bit but didn't say anything because he didn't want to embarrass anyone.

"She had gone to get some groceries before Bitters went CRAZY!" Katie replied, practically screaming the last word of her sentence. Bitters looked up at her, glared, and held up a large sign that read 'SHHHHH'.

"And it's too hot to go outside." Sydney added with a half smile. "So we're stuck here." He concluded as he dug his hand into a bowl that was on Riley's lap and stuck it in his mouth.

"Watcha got there?" James asked, his stomach grumbling.

"Grapes," Riley replied and held the bowl out. "Do ya want some?" she held it out even further and fumbled it a little bit, barely catching it on her finger tips and laughed a little bit. "Wow, I'm glad I didn't drop that." James gave her a charming smile before taking a handful.

"Yeah, I mean, after you dropped our dinner last night, I wouldn't want you to drop _grapes_." Noah replied sarcastically. Rhuben elbowed him in the side and the two smiled at each other as Riley rolled her eyes.

"I'm not _that_ big a klutz." She grumbled.

"Who was the one that tripped _up_ the stairs earlier today?" Camille teased as she took some grapes for herself.

"That was an accident, and it was _Patrick's_ fault!" Riley replied and stuck her tongue out at Patrick, who stuck his out in reply.

"What happened?" Carlos questioned with a laugh.

"Let's not talk about this," Riley interrupted, trying to get the conversation off of her. "How was working at the studio today?" she blinked when the boys of Big Time Rush groaned in unison.

"It can't be that bad." Jo commented.

"Trust me, you work with Gustavo too, it is." James rolled his eyes. "He threatened us with not being able to go on a summer tour _or_ spring break if we don't keep our grades up."

"Well, the new know that Logan doesn't have to worry about it." Camille stated as she patted Logan on the knee, who started to laugh in a loud mocking way, pointing at his friends, as if to say I told you so.

"Whoa, hold off on the grapes there." Katie cried when she noticed Sydney and Carlos taking more and more out of the bowl, faster and faster. As if they were in a competition over it. "You're going to choke."

"No I'm not." Carlos replied with his mouth full, a little bit of grape juice dribbling down his chin as he tried to eat faster.

"Trust me, you are." Rhuben commented lightly as she shook her head and chuckled a little bit. "Sydney is _very_ competitive to see who gets the last grape whenever we eat them. You're going to lose." At that, Sydney's and Carlos' hands flew faster and faster from the bowl to their mouths as the pile of grapes dwindled down.

At the last second, Carlos grabbed the last grape and shoved it into his mouth.

"YES! I BEAT YOU! HAHA!" He shouted, well, tried to, as his mouth was full.

"All right, all right, that was just the first round." Sydney smirked as he wiped off his lips with the back of his hand.

"Of what?" James chuckled. "This isn't a competition."

"What? Are you scared?" Rhuben questioned calmly, her light blue eyes sparkling.

"Of what?" he snorted.

"That we're a better band."

Jo's features twisted into one of confusion as she looked over at Kendall. He mirrored the same expression and then ran his fingers through his hair. He started to reply, but was cut off by Carlos, always the one that would never back down from a fight.

"That is _so_ not true!" he declared and then looked at his friends before looking back at Rhuben. "How about we have a competition? A series of little friendly games. The band that has the most points at the end is the winner."

"Of what?" Noah asked, his voice rising slightly higher than normal. That usually happened when he was interested in something.

"Nothing yet, but we'll figure that out as we go along." Carlos replied.

"I'm in." Riley and Rhuben harmonized.

"And because we have made this a competition…starting now, we're ahead by one point because Carlos won the last one." James declared before any of the Jacksons could say anything in protest.

"If you guys are going to do this, then it has to be fair." Katie stated and she motioned to her and the rest of the girls. "We'll be the judges."

"And since we lost the first round, we get to choose the game for the second." Noah continued as he looked around. "Every game after that we have to have the judges choose."

"I don't know about this, guys." Logan stated, not one that liked competitions. He got nervous and whenever he got nervous he passed out. Back home in Minnesota the doctors in the hospital knew him by name because of that.

"Oh come on, Logie," Kendall rolled his eyes and slapped his friend on the shoulder. "It's just a bit of fun and it's not like we're actually going to get a trophy out of this."

"You might, knowing Ri-Ri and Rhu-Rhu." Sydney commented. "They can get really competitive." He rubbed his chin in thought before turning to Katie. "We're going to have to draw up some rules for this."

"What part of 'Shhhhhh' don't you get?" Bitters snapped before jamming headphones on his ears and turning up the volume of whatever he was watching on his laptop.

"What's he watching anyway?" James questioned, raising his eyebrows. The girls, besides Riley and Rhuben, started to giggle madly.

"He's watching Gossip Girl." Stephanie replied. "I gave it to him just so we were allowed to sit down her and wait to be let back upstairs."

"Ok," Kendall rubbed his hands together. "What's the next competition?"

"You have to choose one person from the band, to get a paper ball in the wastebasket over there." Noah replied as he pointed to a trash can that was way on the other side of the lobby. He moved forward and grabbed a brochure that was sitting on the table in front of them and crumpled it up into two balls. "I'll go for us. Who's going to throw for you guys?"

"I want to do it!" James declared, reaching for it.

"Better let Logie do it," Kendall slapped the paper ball into his friends' chest. "He knows the math mumbo jumbo to get it into the trashcan."

Logan smirked. "That's true." He declared as he examined the paper ball before crunching it in his hands tighter, ignoring the sting that cut into his palms. "What you need to worry about is the flight pattern, the shape of the ball, and the wind that needs to be accounted from the air conditioner." He raised the ball up to eye level.

"I just love it when he talks mathy." Camille sighed to Katie, who made a face and turned away, not sure how Camille was so obsessed with him.

"Now, I raise my arm to be like a fulcrum and-"

"JUST GET ON WITH IT!" Kendall, Carlos, and James shouted in unison, causing Logan to jump.

"Ok, sorry." Logan squinted his left eye and tossed the ball into the air. His triumphant smile faded when the paper ball landed by the wastebasket. "What?" he cried. His eyes grew wide as Noah fake yawned and carelessly tossed the paper ball over his shoulder, it landing in the wastebasket smoothly.

He smiled warmly as Logan turned his shocked gaze to him. "I sit here every day." He explained.

A loud techno beat filled the air and Patrick pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Hello?" he asked, his Australian accent showing through. "Mhm, mhm, now? Sure. Ok. Be right there." He closed the phone. "Ronan needs us at his office." He stood up and stretched. "We gotta go. Later." He gave the peace sign before leading his siblings out of the hotel lobby.

DarkElements – 1

Big Time Rush - 1

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, I know, it took long enough. 17 chapters and it finally got to the point of the story, and it was a shorter chapter. Hahaha. Sorry about that, I wanted to show their friendship start to grow before I got to this point, so what do you guys think of it? Oh and don't forget to read my new BTR story 'Big Time Adventure'. Reviews keep me motivated to write, so keep on reviewing. ^-^**

**Oh and another question, do you want this to be strictly a BTRxDE friendship story, or do you want Riley and Rhuben to fall for some of the boys and if so, who?**

**-Riley**


	18. Big Time Big Brother

**.:Chapter Eighteen – Big Time Big Brother:.**

**

* * *

**"Ow!" Riley moaned in pain as she tried to roll onto her side.

"Is she dead?" Patrick asked from where he was standing next to her bed. Ronan didn't say anything, but ran his fingers through his hair as he turned to the doctor that was packing up his stuff. Noah made a face but didn't say anything.

"No, she's not dead." Sydney replied from where he was sitting at the end of Riley's bed, kicking his feet back and forth. "If she was, she wouldn't be glaring at you."

"That's true," Patrick mumbled in reply.

"So, how is she, doctor?" Ronan asked as he cross his arms over his chest nervously. "Nothing is seriously wrong with her?"

"You mean apart from her temper?" Noah replied and smiled gently so his older sister knew that he was just teasing her.

Dr. Graham smiled serenely. "Rilandon is alright," he replied as he closed his bag and grabbed onto the handle. "She just has a classic case of burnout; my guess is that she doesn't really like to say 'no' to when anybody asks her to do something."

"Yeah, that's right," Rhuben replied as she shook her head. "She's also really bossy. So bossy that we call her the general behind her back."

"You do?" Riley narrowed her eyes.

"Well, not anymore now that you know" Rhuben replied casually.

"If I wasn't stuck in this stupid bed, I would kill you." Riley threatened in reply.

"Yeah, well, you are," Ronan replied as he held a hand out, making sure that she wouldn't try sitting up. "Apparently your muscles are rebelling against you, so it wouldn't be a good idea if you tries to kill anybody." He turned to the doctor. "So, I'm thinking about a couple of days of bed rest?"

"A couple of days?" Riley repeated and then cried out in pain, curling up into a ball on her side.

"She can't stay in bed for a couple of days," Patrick protested. "We have a concert in a few days, and we really need her to help us with our vocals and stuff."

"Sorry, she needs to stay right here." Dr. Graham replied and left the apartment.

"I hate doctors," Riley grumbled. "They're a bunch of quacks."

"Yeah, but they're quacks that have saves your lives countless of times," Ronan replied grimly. "But he's right, I've seen this many times before, bed rest is the best idea that u could have gotten. Besides, if you don't then it could get worse."

"How much worse?" Noah asked as he lightly poked one of her legs. "Will she be stuck there forever?"

Ronan laughed and shook his head. "No, she's not going to be stuck here forever, but we should leave so she can get some-"

"Hello?" a voice called from the front of the apartment.

"JULIUS!" Sydney shouted loudly, causing everybody to wince. He jumped off of the bed and raced his siblings out of the room, leaving Riley behind on her bed, to get to the front door of the apartment first.

Standing in the foyer and placing his bags on the ground was the eldest of the Jackson clan, Julius Jackson, eighteen years old. Much like his siblings, he has black hair and blue eyes. Because he's the oldest he has a great sense of responsibility, and his brothers and sisters adore him.

"Hey guys." Julius greeted his siblings before he was tackled to the ground by four of them. "Ok, Ok, I'm glad to see you guys too, but would it kill you to let me up?" he asked and laughed as they quickly got off of him.

"You weren't supposed to come here until next week!" Rhuben cried her blue eyes wide with happiness. "I thought you had a lot of projects and stuff to do!"

"Yeah, I know, but I finished my work early and Ronan said that you guys were missing me like crazy," Julius teased in reply as he poked Sydney in the stomach, causing him to giggle. "Hey Ronan," he greeted as the older man walked out of Riley's bedroom. The two came together in a 'man-hug' and Julius grinned. "What's up? My brothers and sisters haven't run you into the ground have they?"

"Not yet," Ronan replied with a half smile. "So you heard about-"

"Dad being taken away?" Julius replied and nodded. "How could I have not? I had the police calling me day after day after day. Plus, that Logan kid called me asking me about it." He looked worried about something and then the expression cleared from his face. "But it's good to know that these guys are safe now," he mussed Patrick's and Noah's hair with his hands. "Especially since I couldn't really be there for them. Thanks for looking after them."

"You guys are like family, it was no problem." Ronan replied. It was then that Julius noticed that one of his siblings was missing.

"Where's Monster?" he asked, turning to Rhuben.

"She got a case of burnout and is sleeping in our room," she replied and pointed. "In there, I wouldn't wake her up though; you remember how snappy she can be when she's woken up."

"Yeah," Julius replied and flicked her on the nose. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're the one that _growls_ at people whenever she is woken up." Rhuben beamed in reply. "I'm just going to say hi really fast." Julius went into the bedroom and laughed a little bit when he saw his sister glaring at the ceiling. "Now, I always knew that you weren't fond of the color white, but this is ridiculous." He teased.

"Julius!" Riley cried, trying to sit up. "Ow!" She winced and laid back down. "Everything huts."

"Yeah, I know," he sat down on the end of her bed. "But it was bound to happen eventually, because you're the kind of person that will never give up, even when people tell you to." He mussed her forehead. "Sorry though."

"It's alright," Riley replied and smiled gently. "I needed some time to myself anyway, and this may as well be the excuse for it."

Julius laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later, Monster." He said using her old nickname.

"Sure thing, Monkey," Riley replied and rolled over onto her side to go to sleep.

Julius left the bedroom, gently closing the door behind him. He sighed and stretched. "So, what's there to do around here in this apartment building?"

"We can show you the pool!" Sydney cried as she climbed onto Julius' back and gripped onto his head, as if he was afraid that he would fall off. "And you can meet our friends! Please? Please? Please?"

"Ok, fine, just don't tear out my hair while you're at it." Julius laughed as he slowly turned around, careful to not let Sydney fall off his shoulders. "I'll take them off your hands for a while. What time do you need them at the dance studio?"

"Three o'clock is fine with me," Ronan replied as he looked at his watch. "That will give time for me to get some stuff done and you can hang out with them, because we both know that they've been dying for it." He suddenly looked curious. "You haven't sung anything for a while, do you want to hit the recording studio later?"

"Sure, that sounds cool." Julius smiled warmly, his dark blue eyes shining with excitement. "I've been working on some songs while I was at UCLA, I'm sure you'll like them."

"C'mon!" Patrick was already out the front door, eagerly waiting to go. "See ya later, Ronan!"

* * *

"You're going to lose!" Carlos declared, tears falling down his cheeks.

"No, you are!" James replied, raising and lowering his eyebrows as if they controlled his eyelids. Kendall and Logan were alternatively looking up and down from their watches, timing how long it took for one of them to blink. Before the two could react, a pair of hands entered the space between their heads and clapped loudly, causing James and Carlos to jump and move backwards, blinking involuntarily.

"Ha-ha, gotcha" Noah teased as he moved his hands back.

"What were you doing anyway?" Rhuben asked as she looked at the boys as if they were crazy.

"They're doing a staring contest to see who would go against one of you," Logan replied as he cleared his watch. "But then again, we don't even know which one of you would be good for a staring contest."

"Oh, it wouldn't be me," Patrick replied. "I wear contacts and if I keep my eyes open too long without blinking, then they would dry out and become really uncomfortable." He turned to Julius and smiled. "Anyway, guys, this is our oldest brother, Julius Jackson. He's eighteen and is a singer too."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Julius smiled warmly as he raised a hand in a short wave.

"Hey, I'm Kendall," Kendall grabbed Julius' hand and shook it firmly. "And these are my friends, James, Carlos, and Logan."

"They're the band Big Time Rush," Rhuben explained. "The one that I was telling you about."

"Yeah and I remember Logan clearly," Julius nodded. "Except the last time I saw you, you were sporting a bunch of Pokémon gear." He smiled a little bit as Logan blushed and his friends laughed. "I'm just kidding, but it _is_ really good to see you again."

"You too." Logan replied with a smile.

"Oh and thanks for calling me," Julius replied as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Back when my brothers and sisters were in trouble. There wasn't much that I could do so far away. Thanks for looking out for them."

"In Julius speak that means that he respects you greatly," Rhuben stated as she smiled warmly.

"Hey, what's going on?" Katie asked as she walked over, sipping on a smoothie.

"Katie, this is our brother, Julius," Patrick stated as he turned and smiled warmly at the young girl. "Julius, this is Katie, Kendall's sister."

'Yeah, I heard a lot about you," Julius stated as she took Katie's hand and gently kissed the back of it. "Nice to know that my brothers aren't bad at describing people. It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Katie replied with a small smile.

Patrick and Noah looked at each other with identical expression of worry.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter is going to be longer, this was just a filler chapter. Thanks for reading guys. The next chapter is called 'Big Time Crush'  
**


	19. Big Time Crush

**.:Chapter Nineteen – Big Time Big Crush:.**

**

* * *

**"Katie, what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

Kendall looked at his sister with his eyebrows raised in question. The two were sitting in their empty apartment as James, Carlos, and Logan had to work on vocals, and their mother was out trying to find a job. Kendall was sitting at the kitchen table, texting his friends, and Katie was sitting across from him,

Kendall couldn't help but smile as he watched a small smile appear on his sisters' face as she typed away on her laptop.

Who was she kidding?

There was something different about her lately and he could tell. Thus being her older brother and having helped his mother raise her, he could tell what she was thinking without having to say it out loud. He could tell whether or not she was mad from the way that she did normal things. He could even tell when she was sad or that something was bothering her just by the way that talked. So it was no surprise that now he could tell that something was making her happy, happier than usual. The only thing that annoyed him was that she was denying it.

"What do you mean, 'What do you mean?'" Kendall replied and smirked a little bit. "You're smiling a little more than usual, you haven't come up with a sneaky plan to 'rule this town' in who knows how long, _and_ you're spending a lot of time on your appearance."

"What?' Katie snorted. "No, I'm not!" she denied and shook her head, muttering something about older brothers being stupid. Kendall raised an eyebrow.

"Oh no?" He reached out and closed Katie's laptop with a push of his index finger against the lid. "So you're telling me that you're _not_ wearing lip-gloss, that that's _not_ a new headband, and that those are _not _new jeans?"

"They're not new," Katie replied and blinked once. "I got them a week ago, and wore them once, to try them on. Thus making it that they're not new!"

"Who're you trying to impress?" Kendall asked with an amused chuckle and continued when Katie looked over at him with a sharp expression of confusion and wary. "I can tell, usually a girl only dresses up even more than usual if she's trying to get a guy's attention. Or if she's going out to the mall or something."

"Uh, correct me if I'm wrong," Katei started and then tilted her head to the side in thought. "Which I hope I'm not, but aren't you a guy? So how would you know that?"

"You hear a lot when you hang out with Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Riley, and Rhuben." Kendall replied with a smirk.

"So, who is it that you like?" Kendall pressed a hand to his chin as he looked at the ceiling in thought. "It can't be Sydney because he's too young." Katie squirmed in her seat but didn't say anything. "Is it James?" he laughed when Katie gave him a 'duh' look. "Yeah, I didn't think it would be him. Um, Carlos? Logan?" Kendall grinned as Katie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Who else could it be then? Um, Patrick or Noah?"

"We're just friends!" Katie replied, shaking her head. "That's all, just friends." She knew that they weren't just friends, she wasn't stupid. She knew that Patrick and Noah were always fighting for her attention and it flattered her a lot, she liked them both, but didn't like the idea of having to choose between the two of them. Especially since the one that she didn't choose would be really pissed at the other and she didn't want that.

Not at all.

"Well, the only other logical explanation that you can have is that you like…no way…" Kendall's eyes widened as he looked over at his sister, who bit her bottom lip and looked back at him, sure that he knew who it was. "You like _Tyler?_"

"No, you idiot!" Katie snapped, slapping her brother on the back of the head. "I like _Julius_!"Katie quickly covered her mouth, but the damage was done.

Kendall didn't know what to say, he could tell from his sister's actions that she really liked him, even thought she only knew him for a couple of days. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by saying that it would most likely not happen, but he also didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Please don't tell anyone." Katie begged, grabbing onto Kendall's arm. "It's embarrassing enough; I don't want to get teased about it."

"Yeah, fine, I promise." Kendall replied. He beamed and got in his sister's face. "Katie's got a crush! Katie's got a crush!" he sang teasingly.

"Shut up!" Katie replied, slapping him on the arm. She shrieked with laughter as Kendall stood up, grabbed his sister, and lifted her over his shoulder. "Kendall, put me down!" she cried, laughing hysterically as he tickled her stomach.

"You may want to be careful and not drop her," a voice stated over their laughter. "We learned that the hard way." Kendall turned around, with Katie still on his shoulder, and greeted Rhuben with a bright smile. "You should see the huge scar on the side of Patrick's head; it's much worse than how stupid he is. And that's a bad comparison."

"Hey, what's up?" Kendall greeted as he gently lowered his sister to the ground. "What brings you by?"

"We were just on our way to the studio and we ran into James, Logan, and Carlos," Rhuben replied as she pointed behind her with her thumb. "They had just finished recording and we wanted to know if you guys wanted to come to the studio to hear our new songs. We have a concert coming up soon and we're going to release our first single soon, too." She beamed, her eyes brightening. "And Julius is going to do some of the new stuff that he wrote, and we haven't heard his stuff in a while." Her grin grew wider. "He's going to help us choose which songs to go on the CD and what to name it."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun." Katie replied immediately and then turned to Kendall. "You coming?" she asked as she looked up at him, subtly widening her eyes.

"Why not?" Kendall shrugged as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "I think mom needs some time away from us anyway."

"Where _is_ Mama Knight?" Rhuben questioned, raising her black eyebrows.

"She's taking a nap," Katie replied and rolled her eyes. "Apparently Kendall and his friends are running her ragged."

"I know the feeling," Rhuben deadpanned. Having to take care of her brothers for a long time made it hard for her and Riley to get time to themselves, but they both knew that they would never give that up. It just made them all really close to each other and that's what they liked the most about their family's relationship. "C'mon, the others are waiting."

"Let's go." Kendall agreed as he grabbed the key to the apartment and ushered Katie out the door.

* * *

"Hey, how come you guys get a bigger recording studio than we do?" James frowned as he looked around at the spacious room, pouting in disappointment. Patrick, who was standing beside him, shrugged in reply.

"I don't know," he replied truthfully. "It might have to do with the fact that Gustavo isn't our music producer and that Ronan isn't stingy."

"In other words," Noah jumped into the conversation, putting his arm around Patrick's shoulder. "He's not cheap."

"That's true," Logan commented dryly. "Especially since the last time we broke something, Gustavo made us pay for it, instead of paying for it himself."

"I know!" Carlos agreed his eyes wide with wonder. "If he's our manager, should _he _be the one to pay for it? I mean, we haven't even gotten our paychecks yet." Riley, who was sitting on a nearby couch, tuning an electric guitar in the shape of a fireball, spoke up.

"You'll probably get it soon," she commented as she set her guitar aside, and standing up to stretch. "I mean, you haven't even gone on a tour yet, usually you get your first big paycheck either after your tour is done, you're done with your first CD, or the year is over. And you've only been out here a couple of months."

"Bet you we get ours first." James stated, pointing a finger in her face. Riley pushed his hand away.

"Is that part of the competition?" she questioned with a smirk. Her eyes moved off of James to the doorway as Ronan and Julius entered the studio. Ronan rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"Well, let's get started." He said and then stopped as he raised a finger. "Wait a minute," he paused and started to count. "One," he pointed to Sydney. "Two, three," he pointed to Patrick and Noah. "Four," he pointed to Riley and looked around. "Where's Rhuben?"

"She went to get Kendall and Katie I think." Sydney replied. "Where's Julius?"

"I'm right here," Julius called and entered the room a few seconds later. He brushed his black hair out of his eyes with his shoulder. "I was just finishing a call. Your concert tomorrow has been pushed back by an hour. So you're going to start at 7 instead of 6."

"If that' the case," Ronan turned back to the Jacksons. "Then you're going to be recording for a half hour longer than we expected," he turned and looked straight at Riley. "But after that you guys are to rest until tomorrow."

"What?" Riley looked offended. "Do you think I _want_ to get burnout again? It's not fun!"

"How are you feeling today, Monster?" Julius asked as he patted her on the head. Riley smirked and batted his hand away from her head.

"Sorry I'm late," Rhuben apologized as she rushed into the recording studio, Kendall and Katie behind her, a bag on her back. "I had to get a few things first." She pulled her bag off of her back and opened it, quickly tossing something to Patrick. "Here, you may need t hat." She stated and Patrick quickly moved it into his pocket, so no one could see what it was.

"Noah, here you go." She handed him a towel and he placed it around his shoulders, knowing that eventually he was going to be really sweating. "Syd, here's your laptop." She handed Sydney his computer and he grinned, moving it over to the table in the room. "And I go t a deck of cards in case we got bored." She turned to Logan. "Oh and your mom called the apartment, looking for you."

"Thanks, I'll call her later." Logan replied with a nod and a smile. "Thanks Bella."

"No problem," Rhuben replied and tossed her bag aside. "So, let's get started." She declared, twirling drumsticks around her fingers. "What song are we starting out with?"

"Well," Ronan grabbed a sheet of paper and motioned for Kendall, James, Logan, Carlos, and Katie to sit down wherever they wanted. Katie glanced over at Julius before lightly perching herself on the arm of the couch. "On the list we have _Too Close For Comfort_, _You Said No, That Thing You Do, Hook Line and Sinker, Rain, Ohio is For Lovers, and Fall At Your Feet._" Ronan read out loud, lightly tapping a pen against the sound controls, careful not to mess anything up. "So, whichever one you want to do first."

"I vote that we do the song…_Too Close for Comfort_ first." Sydney stated as he looked up at his siblings with a bright smile. "That one is my favorite, plus I think doing _Thing You Do_, right after it, so it would go from a more emotional song to an upbeat happy one."

"I think that's a good idea, too." Julius agreed as he leaned over Ronan and pointed to the sheet of paper. "I also think that we should do _Ohio Is for Lovers_ last, after a break, so Patrick can rest his throat."

"It's not going to matter, really." Patrick shrugged carelessly. "I'm probably going to lose my voice again anyway." He turned to Noah and raised a hand. "You ready to get this done?"

"Oh yeah!" Noah smiled in reply and gave Patrick a high-five before leading his brothers and sisters into the recording area. He pulled on a pair of headphones and grabbed a guitar. "Let's do this!" Rhuben laughed and patted him on the back, causing him to smile in reply.

"I didn't know that Noah could play the guitar." Katie commented, voicing Big Time Rush's thoughts. "I thought he only played the drums."

"Well, they all have a specific instrument that they play," Julius explained, turning to face her. "Riley plays any form of the guitar, electric, acoustic or bass, but mostly plays electric. Same with Patrick, but he mostly plays the bass. Rhuben and Noah mostly play the drums, but now a few songs on the guitar, but a very few. And Sydney," he smiled. "Well, he can kick anyone's butt when it comes to playing an instrument, any one you give him, he will play. Rhuben also knows how to play the trumpet, and they all know how to play the piano."

"Wow," Carlos nodded in appreciation. "That's very impressive."

"Yeah, well, dad pushed us really hard when it came to playing instruments, especially Sydney." Julius replied and then grew solemn. He suddenly brightened. "But it's cool, because it makes them happy."

Kendall smiled back in reply, knowing the feeling well. It was obvious that Julius cared about his siblings' happiness, and was guilty that he had been gone for so long, not being able to help them when they were being abused. Kendall felt the same way when they were back in Minnesota. After his dad left, he felt that he had to take care of Katie like a big brother and as a father. So he tried to make it to every play, game, and recital that she was in, and hated himself when he had to miss a few of them. But Katie always knew that he was a good big brother, even though they got on each other's nerves sometimes.

"Hey," Katie looked over at Julius, who had called for her attention. "Is that new lip-gloss?"

Katie blushed a little bit. "Yeah, I go it a couple of weeks ago."

"It's nice," Julius commented and smiled warmly. "It smells like Strawberries. My favorite." He turned back around and said something to Ronan, missing Katie's pleased smile. Sydney, who was sitting at the back of the recording booth, behind a piano with headphones around his neck, smirked.

"Looks like someone has some competition." He said in a sing-song voice and giggled as Riley and Rhuben chuckled. Patrick and Noah didn't say anything in reply but put their headphones on over their ears and making sure the guitar straps that were over their shoulders fit fine.

"You guys ready?" Ronan asked as Riley tuned her bass guitar, which was also in the shape of a fireball. "Patrick, for this one you need to tune your guitar down half a step."

"Got it," Patrick murmured in reply as he did so. "Ready."

"Rhu, are you ready?" Julius asked as he and Ronan messed with a few knobs and buttons on the soundboard. Sydney nodded and looked at each of his siblings, waiting for them to catch his eye, before nodding towards them again. "Ok, here we go."

Rhuben took a breath, her features sliding into a gaze of concentration and counted off with four sharp clacks of her drumsticks and Riley, Patrick, and Noah stared the song.

"I never meant the things I said to make you cry, can I say I'm sorry?" Patrick started off the song, singing softly, his voice, which hadn't changed yet, sounding slightly more feminine. He softly strummed his guitar and started to sing again, focusing on the microphone in front of his face. "It's hard to forget, and yes I regret, all these mistakes." He took a deep breath and kept going. "I don't know why you're leaving me, but I know you must have your reasons. There's tears in your eyes, I watch as you cry. But it's getting late."

Riley, Noah, Rhuben, and Sydney joined him as he started to sing the chorus of the song. "Was I invading in on your secrets? Was I too close for comfort; you're pushing me out when I wanted in. What was I just about to discover? When I got too close for comfort, driving you home, guess I'll never know."

Julius watched his siblings intently as Noah started to sing. "Remember when we scratched our names into the sand, and told me you loved me? But now that I find, that you've changed your mind I'm lost for words."

It was a very emotional song for all of them. Really, it could have been about anything, two friends keeping secrets from each other, or a couple breaking up. But to the Jacksons, it was about the abuse that they had to endure and how they never told anyone, no matter how much they had been offered help.

"And everything I feel for you, I wrote down on one piece of paper. The one in your hand, you won't understand, how much it hurts to let you go." Noah closed his eyes as he belted out he words, it was his favorite part of the song, because it showed people that even if he was quiet in person, he could be loud and emotional when it came to singing, something that he really enjoyed.

Riley looked back towards Sydney and smiled when she saw how effortlessly he was playing the piano, probably his favorite out of all of the instruments to play, according to him. She looked back at Rhuben and her smile grew wider, seeing how concentrated she was in playing the drums, and singing at the same time. She turned back to her microphone, concentrating on her finger placement on the bass as they went back into the chorus.

"Was I invading in on your secrets? Was I too close for comfort; you're pushing me out when I wanted in. What was I just about to discover? I got too close for comfort, driving you home, guess I'll never know."

"All this time you've been telling me lies. Hidden in bags that are under your eyes. And when I asked you I knew I was right." Sydney sang, his fingers flying over the piano keys, a bright smile on his face. Even with an emotional song he was smiling.

"But if you turn your back on me now, when I need you most, but you chose to let me down, down, down." Riley sang, closing her eyes like she always did when she performed. It was a way for her to concentrate on what she was playing and what she was feeling at the time. Instead of being distracted by the audience's reaction. (Especially if she ever messed up.)

"Won't you think about what you're about to do to me, and back down..." Rhuben sang as the music slowly started to slow down from the crescendo that had just been playing. She lightly tapped her drumsticks against the crash cymbal as Patrick continued the song, wincing a little bit when she noticed that she had messed up part of the tune.

"Was I invading in on your secrets? Was I too close for comfort, you're pushing me out, when I wanted in." He closed his eyes and slightly leaned back as he strummed harder on his guitar strings, as Noah went on with the song.

"What was I just about to discover?" Noah sang as Riley got a small bit of a bass solo. "I got too close for comfort. You're pushing me out, when I wanted in. Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Was I invading in on your secrets? Was I too close for comfort; you're pushing me out, when I wanted in. What was I just about to discover? I got too close for comfort, driving you home, guess I'll never know." The Jacksons sang in unison as the song petered out.

"That was great, guys!" Julius beamed as Big Time Rush clapped behind him.

"What song were _you_ listening to?" Rhuben snapped as he raised her eyebrow. "I messed up towards the end of the song."

"Yeah, and I messed up about three chord changes." Riley agreed.

"You guys are too hard on yourselves," Sydney stated as he stood up on the piano stool to open the top of the piano. "I'm always telling you that. The audience doesn't know how the song is supposed to sound, so it's not like they're going to know."

"Whatever," Patrick replied as he shook his head. He gently took his guitar off from over his head and frowned when he inspected it. "Damn, I broke a string. Ri-Ri, do you have an extra D string?" he called.

"Yeah, hold on."

"I didn't know you played the guitar." Noah looked up and basically dropped the electric guitar that he had been playing onto his foot. Katie laughed as he winced and pulled the guitar away.

"Yeah, uh," Noah's cheeks turned a little pink as he nervously drummed his hands against his legs. "I only play it a little bit. I like the drums better."

"I taught him how to play the guitar," Patrick added as he walked over, leaving Riley to tend to his guitar. "It took a bit, but he finally got the hang of it." He grinned and slapped his brother on the shoulder, causing him to blush harder.

"Shut up." Noah hissed under his breath. "Uh, what did you think of the song?"

"I thought it was great." Katie replied with a bright smile. "Julius said that you guys all wrote that song together, when you usually write songs yourselves."

Patrick frowned when he noticed something in Katie's eyes when she said his brother's name. He looked over at his older brother, then back at Katie, and suddenly figured out what was going on. '_There's no question that she likes Julius_,' he thought to himself with a sigh. '_And I know that Noah likes her too. Nothing is going to happen with her and Julius, so maybe_-'

He was broken out of his thoughts by Riley suddenly speaking up.

"The inspiration wasn't hard," Riley commented bitterly as she handed Patrick back his guitar and squeezed by them to get out of the recording studio. "What did you guys think? We value your opinions the most." She commented to Big Time Rush, teasingly ignoring Ronan and Julius, who gave her looks of offense.

"It was really, really good." Logan replied smiling and giving his best friend a hug. "Probably one of the best ones, Landon."

"You say that about all of our songs," Rhuben pointed out as she left the recording studio too, drumming the air with her drumsticks. "You can tell the truth for once."

"Ok," Logan shrugged and started to count off on his fingers. "Your drumming was too slow, the guitar riffs could have been better, and Riley was flat for the second verse." He teased. Rhuben rolled her eyes and slapped him on the arm. "Relax, I was kidding."

"Yeah, not like you know much about music anyway." James commented with a laugh. "Ah, now this makes me want to get back into the studio again!"

"You can if you want." Carlos replied, shaking his head. "I don't want to lose my voice."

"It'll be worth it when I'm rich and famous," James replied, shoving his friend back onto the couch. "And you're poor looking for a job." He stuck his nose in the air. "I _might_ give you some money, if you ask nicely."

"Thanks, James; it's good to know that you'll help us later in life." Kendall replied sarcastically.

"You don't have to worry about me," Logan boasted with a smug smile. "I'll be a famous doctor, doing plastic surgery for the celebrities and getting a lot of money for it."

"Where do you think you're going?" Ronan asked when he noticed Riley starting to back out of the room. "We still have some songs to record."

"I know. I was just going to get some water." Riley replied and then froze for a second when she heard the sound of Patrick's watch beeping. "You know, so my throat doesn't get dry." She added as she continued backing up. "I mean, we don't want-"

"Riley." Patrick stated his eyes locked on her as his watch beeped again. She ignored him.

"For me to lose my voice when it comes to me solo in a song, right?"

"Rilandon!" Julius snapped, looking mad. Riley sighed and walked over to Patrick, whose hand was out in the air, holding something. She snatched what was in his hand and quickly shoved it into her mouth, swallowing it. "Thank you."

"Whatever." Riley snapped in reply.

For the next hour and a half, the Jacksons worked on their songs, getting comments and suggestions from their friends, Ronan, and Julius. When they were finally done, Ronan went off to go to some meeting, Julius went off to go hang out with some of his friends from college, and that left Big Time Rush, DarkElements, and Katie left to find something to do.

"Anyone want to race back to the hotel?" Carlos questioned after a few minutes of small talk.

"Yeah, I'm up for it." Patrick agreed with a grin, running in place. "I'm up to win something today."

"Wow, way to be tactful," Noah commented sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, I don't see how you're my twin."

"You're right, I'm _much_ more handsome." Patrick replied as he adjusted his spikes. Noah frowned and gave his brother the stink-eye, opening his mouth to say something, but Sydney suddenly appeared in his face.

"Potty Mouth Jar!" he warned. Noah's frown melted into a smile.

"What's the Potty Mouth Jar?" James questioned from where he was walking beside Riley, who snorted and rolled her eyes.

"The potty mouth jar is this thing that we have where if you swear you have to put a dollar in the jar and tally how many times you've swore." Riley explained.

"The person that swears the least gets to keep the money at the end of the month." Rhuben added and raised her eyebrows. "Guess who gets the money each and every time." She added while not-so-secretly pointing at Sydney.

"I can't help it that I'm nice." Sydney replied cheekily.

Logan laughed along with the others before turning back to Rhuben. "I didn't know that you could play the drums so well, you improved a lot." He complimented her. She gave a half smile in reply. "Can you teach me?"

"The drums?" Rhuben repeated, looking amused. "I don't know, Logie. When we were younger, you got hurt just by doing jumping jacks!"

"That was only because I didn't stretch well before I did it." Logan defended himself as Kendall and James burst out laughing. "Besides, those two are synonymous."

"Cinna-what?" Patrick and Carlos repeated, blankly.

"The same." Katie replied.

"Oh, well, anyway, let's race!" Patrick declared, looking around. "We'll go from here to that mailbox all the way down at the end of the block." He instructed Carlos.

"Ok, on your marks, get set, go!" Carlos replied and started running before Patrick could even tell what happened.

"Hey!" Patrick frowned and took off running after Carlos, sprinting as fast as he could. Kendall, James, and Logan cheered on Carlos as Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney cheered on their brother, hoping that each person would get to the line first.

Carlos and Patrick were neck and neck, surprisingly, as Carlos had longer legs. But Patrick was shorter so he was able to dodge people and their shopping bags as Carlos ran into them, apologizing the whole way. Finally, Patrick raced ahead to the mailbox and slapped it with his hands. He punched his fists in the air in victory as Carlos ran up, breathing heavily.

"Yes! I win!" Patrick declared and started to cough a little bit. "I…" he took a deep breath. "Beat you…Carlos." He coughed again.

"Hey, are you ok?" James asked in concern as the others arrived. Patrick was sitting on the ground his knees between his legs, breathing heavily.

"I'm…fine…why…do…you…ask." Patrick replied, taking a deep breath between each word. His chest was rising and falling with effort at each word he spoke.

"He's fine," Noah replied as he reached into the bag on Rhuben's back and pulled out a small red tube. "He just has asthma, we all do." He reached over to Patrick and forced his mouth open, sticking in the red tube. "Breathe in," he instructed and pushed a button at the top of the tube at the same time Patrick breathed in.

Seconds later, Patrick was breathing normally again.

"Thanks." Patrick sighed and gave his twin a quick hug.

"No Problem." Noah smiled in reply.

"What's asthma?" Kendall asked, concerned for his friends. "It's not deadly or anything is it?"

"In the event of an asthma attack that doesn't get treated it can be." Logan replied. "But usually it's not. Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath." He explained. "Much like Patrick just exhibited."

"Wow," Katie frowned as she looked at her friends. "And you all have it?"

"Yep, even Julius." Rhuben shrugged. "I guess it's been passed down to us through our parents." She shrugged again. "Either that or because we were all premature babies." She placed her hands on Patrick's shoulders. "We need to get him back to our apartment so we can get him on the nebulizer to make sure that it doesn't get worse. We'll see you later."

"Uh, Riley, wait a second." James grabbed onto her arm. Riley signaled to her siblings that she was going to be there in a minute, and she turned back to James, an expectant look on her face. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to a movie tonight."

"Yeah, that sounds cool." Riley replied with a nod. "We'll just meet you guys later. Bye!" she turned and jogged after her brothers and sisters.

"That's…not what I meant." James stated, looking confused as she ran away. He sighed heavily and turned to his friends, who were trying not to laugh. "Oh well, I guess we're going to the movies today."

"Julius too?" Katie asked.

"Yeah, I guess."

Katie smiled.

* * *

DarkElements – 2

Big Time Rush - 1

* * *

**A/N: Ok guys, this story should be getting updated faster now that I know exactly what I want to do with it. Please read and review and I hope you guys are enjoying it! ^-^ Big Time Adventure is going to be updated later today, so be on the lookout for that. Thanks! The song in this chapter is Too Close for Comfort by McFly. I suggest you guys listen to it. I don't own the song.  
**

**Oh, quick question, what do you guys think about my characters (Ronan, Julius, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney?) Do you like them? Hate them? Are they realistic to you? Let me know!  
**

**-Riley  
**


	20. Big Time Sibling Rivalry

**.:Chapter Twenty – Big Time Sibling Rivalry:.**

**

* * *

**"Syd, what candy do you want?" Rhuben asked as she pulled her wallet out of her front pocket. She sighed loudly as Sydney pressed his face up against the glass to see what kind of candy he wanted. "It's not that hard to choose, just pick something!" she snapped after a few seconds of his steam fogging the glass.

"A little testy there, huh?" Logan asked with a teasing smile from beside her as he waited for the cashier to give him his popcorn.

"Yeah, well, you'd be in a cranky mood too if you had to watch these little terrors every day." Rhuben replied sarcastically as she motioned over to Sydney and his brothers. "When we got back home, Patrick and Noah were arguing over something and they wouldn't stop until it was time for us to come here." She paused. "Thanks for inviting us, by the way."

"I would say you're welcome," Logan stated as he took his bag of popcorn from the cashier and waited for Rhuben to finish getting hers and Sydney's food. "But we didn't actually invite you." He smiled when Rhuben shot him a confused look. "James was asking Riley out on a date, and she thought that he was asking if all of you wanted to come."

"Oh," Rhuben handed Sydney his candy and turned to Rhuben. "Well, that's an obvious sign that she doesn't feel the same way. She only does that when she doesn't like someone." She smirked a bit. "But I'm assuming that James isn't going to give up?"

"Never." Logan laughed in reply as the two walked over to the rest of their friends. "James _hates_ it when a girl says that she won't date him. It'll just make him try harder."

"Good to know."

"Ok, so does everybody have everything?" Kendall asked when everybody was back together, holding onto their bags of candy and popcorn and cups of soda. He looked over at Katie and couldn't help but feel a little bad for her. She had been quiet ever since she figured out that Julius couldn't go, because he was hanging out with some friends. "You're not going to get anything to eat?"

"No, I'm not that hungry." She replied and shoved her hands into her pockets, looking around.

"Well, if you _do_ get hungry, you can share some of my popcorn." Patrick offered his large tub of popcorn that was nearly the size of his head.

"What size is that?" Riley asked, crinkling her eyebrows.

"The large." Patrick replied with a bright smile and motioned towards Carlos. "Carlos and I are going to see who eats the most by the time the movie ends."

"What movie are we seeing?" Sydney questioned.

"Well, it had to be a movie that you were able to see," Kendall replied, looking sheepish. "So I thought that it would be a good idea if we saw the movie _The Karate Kid_." He smiled when everybody else showed that they were fine watching that movie.

"Hey, Riley, do you want to sit next to me?" James asked as they all walked towards the theatre. Riley paused, trying to find an excuse not to, but didn't want to seem rude, so she simply nodded in reply.

"Ten bucks Katie sits next to me." Patrick whispered to Noah. Noah raised his eyebrows but didn't rise to the bait. As soon as they had gotten back home after recording in the studio, he and Patrick had been arguing over Katie.

It started out with Patrick's simple comment of saying that he wanted to ask her out, and then Noah admitted that he liked her and the two of them started to fight over it. It escalated to the point that they were beating each other with pillows until he got on their siblings' nerves. Especially Julius' he has a short fuse when it comes to fights.

"Well, this is definitely going to be interesting." Rhuben muttered to Logan, who nodded in reply. As they all started to file into a row, Noah noticed that Patrick was moving to get a seat next to Katie. He moved forward and tapped his brother on the shoulder and ducked out of the way.

When Patrick turned around, Noah moved ahead of him and took the empty seat between Sydney and Katie, as Kendall took Katie's other side.

"Jerk." Patrick grumbled as he sat down in his seat. Noah smiled from where he was sitting.

Throughout the movie Patrick was seething about what Noah had done, Sydney, Noah, and Katie were enjoying the movie and re-enacting their favorite parts quietly. Rhuben and Logan were commenting on the writing of the movie and how cheesy some of the lines were. Kendall and Carlos were making sound effects along with the movie, and James was trying to have a non-awkward conversation with Riley. Either way most of them were having a good time, and others weren't.

"We'll see you guys at your concert tomorrow," Logan said as he gave Riley and Rhuben a hug goodbye.

"See ya!" Sydney waved and grabbed onto Riley's and Rhuben's hands as they started to walk away from Big Time Rush. He paused and stopped walking after a second. "Wait a minute; don't we live in the Palm Woods with them?"

"Don't you remember?" Rhuben asked, looking down at him. "Earlier today Ronan said that we could stay at his house tonight." She rolled her eyes. "To make sure that we actually sleep."

"Oh yeah."

"So, Riles, you don't like James do you?" Rhuben asked as she turned to her older twin. Riley shook her head, heaving a heavy sigh.

"Not at all." She replied.

"So why don't you just tell him that you don't like him instead of leading him on?" Rhuben replied. Riley stopped and looked at her with raised eyebrows. "And don't say that you're not. You let him pay for your food."

"Because I felt bad!" Riley snapped in reply. "And you can't say that you haven't felt that way before. Remember Kyle? That kid that was, like, infatuated with you?"

"That was different!" Rhuben replied.

"How?"

"He was in a _wheelchair!"_

"So?"

Behind them, Patrick and Noah were walking slower than their siblings. Patrick let out a sigh through his nose, his jaw clenched. Beside him, Noah was smirking with happiness. He looked over at his brother when he heard the sigh.

"Something wrong, bro?" he asked sweetly.

Patrick forced a smile that was so wide it looked scary. "Not at all."

"If you say so!"

They were all silent, minus Sydney's happy humming, until they got back to Ronan's house. As soon as he had closed the front door and they all went off to their separate rooms. As soon as Sydney closed the bedroom door, Patrick grabbed a pillow off of the bed and threw it at Noah.

"Thank a lot, traitor!" he shouted as it hit Noah in the face.

"How am I a traitor?" Noah shouted as he whipped the pillow back at him. Patrick caught it against his chest and glared.

"Because you _knew_ that I liked Katie and tricked me out of sitting next to her at the movie theatre!" Patrick replied and held the pillow high above his head. "The way I see it, it's like this. L is for the way you're a loser. O is for the way I'm over you. V is that I mean it very much. And E is that it's exceptionally true!" Patrick hit Noah in the legs with his pillow.

"I'm surprised that he knows what exceptionally means." Sydney noticed to himself.

"Oh, well," Noah forced a laugh. "If we're going to do song puns, here's one." He raised a pillow over his head. "You're so vain you probably think this _pillow _is about you!" He whacked Patrick in the face with a pillow.

The two continued to hit each other with pillows as Sydney calmly got ready for bed. When he was finished, he calmly climbed onto one of the beds and grabbed the pillows that his brothers were holding on the upswing. He took a deep breath when he got their attention.

"BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP!" He shouted. "WE HAVE A CONCERT TOMORROW AND I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I DON'T WANT IT TO BE A DISASTER!"

"Fine." Patrick and Noah replied quietly.

* * *

"Hey Logane?" (Like Rogaine, but making a pun out of Logan)

"No, Carlos, I'm _not_ going to help you make a human-sized catapult to launch yourself across the Palm Woods lobby." Logan replied as he looked up from the newspaper the next day.

"Aww, but it'll be so much fun!" Carlos replied with a whine.

"No! Carlos!" Logan replied and then looked over towards the front door, which was sitting wide open. He looked around and saw that Mrs. Knight was in her room, Katie was sitting at the kitchen table, and James and Kendall were watching TV. "Carlos? Why is the door to our apartment open?"

"Oh, I opened it." Carlos replied as he squeezed himself onto the couch next to Kendall and James.

"Why?" Logan continued annoyed with how slow the conversation was going.

"Because I got hot." Carlos replied as if it was obvious. Logan sighed and ran a hand over his face before looking at Carlos sternly.

"Then why didn't you open a window?" he asked quietly.

"Because who knows what kind of people could come through the window. Duh!" Carlos replied as he rolled his eyes. Logan rubbed his forehead as he felt a part of a headache starting to come on. Something that he only got whenever he was dealing with Carlos.

"Logan ol' buddy ol' pal!"

Logan looked up as Riley and Rhuben stormed into the room. "What's up?" he asked as he set aside the newspaper. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for your concert?"

"Yes, but that's not important!" Riley replied and pointed at her sister. "Tell Rhuben that she's wrong!"

"No, tell Riley's that _she's_ wrong!" Rhuben replied.

"Hey, I'm trying to watch the Minnesota Wild here!" Kendall shouted over their voices.

"Ok," Logan shrugged. "Whoever was wrong last time is right this time."

"Yes!" Rhuben punched the air with her fist. She turned to Riley. "I'm right, now _you_ have to tell James-"

"Tell me what?" Carlos could have sworn that he had seen James' ears perk up at the mention of his name.

"That," Riley crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lower lip. "That I don't like you the same way you like me."

"Yeah, I knew that." James replied with a nod.

"What?" Riley, Rhuben, and Logan stated in unison.

"Well, then why have you been chasing after her?" Logan demanded, not sure what his friend meant.

"You know me," James replied with a grin and a shrug. "I'm always after pretty girls, even if they don't want me."

"Why do I have the feeling that he just insulted me?" Rhuben asked with a confused look as she turned towards Logan. He patted her on the shoulder.

"In James-speak, you just did." He whispered in reply. "Don't feel bad, we always get that." He frowned when Rhuben sighed. "What's wrong?"

"Patrick and Noah are fighting, what else is new." She replied before turning. "We'll see you guys later at the concert."

* * *

As the Jacksons were getting ready for their concert, Patrick and Noah weren't speaking to each other. They got dressed and got stage makeup put on to in silence. Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney were annoyed, trying to get them to talk to each other, but it didn't work.

Finally, Patrick decided to have a change of heart and turned to face his brother.

"This is stupid," he stated, causing Noah to look over at him with a raised eyebrow. Patrick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. It's something coming from me. I don't like fighting with you."

"I don't like fighting with you either." Noah replied quietly, scuffing his shoe on the floor.

"In that case…I'm going to step back," Patrick replied and continued to explain when Noah looked at him funny. "You can have Katie." He rolled his eyes. "Not that she's a prize to be won, according to Sydney."

"The little bugger." Noah added with a half smile. "Are you sure?"

"Do you really like her?" Patrick asked simply.

"Yeah." Noah nodded.

"Then I'm sure." Patrick grinned and mussed Noah's hair until it was messed up. "C'mon little bro, we have a concert to do."

Noah beamed back in reply.

* * *

**A/N: Not the best chapter because it was a filler. Ok, so I had the idea of this chapter when I realized to make them even more realistic the Jacksons needed to fight over something. Anyway, the next chapter is going to be really funny because it will be called 'Big Time Court Room'. There are a lot of things that can come up with that. But you're just going to have to wait. Just so you know, the only reason these past two chapters have been about the Jacksons is because I'm trying to show how they can be realistic. How am I doing? The next chapter is going to be about Big Time Rush again. Hope you guys are enjoying this story!**

**PS – Did you watch the 7 Secrets with Big Time Rush?**


	21. Big Time Court Room

**.:Chapter Twenty One – Big Time Court Room:.**

**

* * *

**_!CRASH!_

"Oh no!" Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan gasped in unison when they saw how messed up Gustavo's office was. Before they could run away, Gustavo and Kelly were in the doorway, mouths gaping open and eyes wide.

"We're doomed." James sighed.

"Wha? How? Why?" Kelly was stammering.

"Gustavo!" Kendall laughed nervously. "You see, what happened was-"

"DOGS, TO DETENTION!" Gustavo shouted so loud that it caused the boys' hair to stand on end. "NOW!"

"Um, you're not our teacher," Carlos pointed out, raising his hand as if he were in class. "So, you can't make us go to detention." He smiled warmly. "Besides, we don't even know where we'd have a detention room."

"NOW!" Gustavo screamed again.

* * *

"This is the last time that we're letting _you_ handle something." Logan glared at Carlos as he drummed his fingers on his table top. The four boys were squeezed back in the room that their first classroom was in at Rocque Records. Gustavo said that they would never get out of the room until they told him who had broken everything in his office.

"What's your problem?" Kendall asked from where he was lying down on a table, looking up at the ceiling.

"I've _never_ gotten detention before!" Logan declared eyes wide. "Do you know what happens to people who get detentions? They turn out like…like…Carlos!"

"Hey!"

James ignored all of them, practicing his face in a handheld mirror he was confident that he wasn't going to get in trouble because he didn't break everything in the office. He looked up as the classroom door opened and in walked the Jacksons, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie.

"What are you guys doing here?" Logan asked.

"Logie, Logie, Logie," Rhuben shook her head with a heavy sigh. "Never in all my life did I think that you would stoop so low to get a detention."

"_But I didn't __do__ anything!" _Logan screeched and dove to her feet, grabbing onto her legs. "You believe me don't you?'

"What did you guys do to get stuck in here, anyway?" Camille asked as Rhuben pried Logan from her legs and took a step back. "I mean, you do a lot of stuff to break things, but what could have made things this bad?"

"We broke Gustavo's office." Kendall replied. "And they're not letting us out until one or all of us confess what happened."

"Well, that explains his rampage a few seconds ago." Jo replied and pointed over her shoulder. "He was just screaming at your mom, saying that he would drive you guys out of town."

"Alright," Logan stood up, getting everyone's attention. "Who broke Gustavo's office?"

"Yeah, I have an audition this afternoon," James added as he went back to looking in his handheld mirror. "To get into a short film. And whoever broke his office had better confess, quickly!" he added and turned to glare at his friends. "Because I'm _not_ missing this audition!"

The boys of Big Time Rush looked at each other, not saying anything. Patrick sighed and rubbed his forehead. "This is getting us nowhere!" he declared. "Which one of you guys would want to destroy Gustavo's office?"

"That's it!" Stephanie cried, getting everyone's attention. "A motive! Whoever had a motive to destroy his office was the one that did it!"

"James!" Carlos shouted as he pointed at the tall brunette. "James had a motive!"

"What?" James shrieked. "I'm shocked and surprised that you would even blame me for this!"

"You hated the idea that they were going to add onto his office instead of putting industrial sized mirrors in the boys' bathroom!" Kendall explained as he looked at his friend suspiciously. James cowered back in fear as Kendall, Carlos, and Logan grouped around him.

"Admit it James, it was you!" Carlos stated as he backed away towards the chalkboard that was leftover from when they had class in there.

"No! It wasn't me!" James replied.

"Oh yeah?" Carlos raised his hands towards the chalkboard. "Maybe _this _will jog your memory!" With that, he dragged his nails down the chalkboard, causing everybody to groan in pain and clasp their hands over their ears.

"Stop! You're hurting my delicate ears!" James cried and slumped to the floor.

"Wow, I guess he _didn't_ do it!" Riley commented, looking down at him on the floor.

"It could have been you, Kendall!" James jumped to his feet and jabbed Kendall in the chest. Kendall took a step back, looking appalled.

"Me?" he grabbed Logan's arm. "It could have easily been Logie!"

"It was probably Carlos." Logan wiggled free from Kendall's grasp and stalked over to Carlos, who was busy drawing a cartoon of Gustavo on the board. "I bet you were playing hockey, _again, _and destroyed all of it."

"Well, it's not going to help if we just sit here and point fingers." Riley said, trying to increase the peace.

"Yeah! Especially because _my_ Logie wouldn't do something like that." Camille chimed in as she hooked her arm through Logan's and pulled him into her side.

"Um, thanks, Camille." Logan replied, looking uncomfortable.

"Ok, how about we do this?" Noah walked over to the chalkboard, grabbed a piece of chalk, and drew a floor plan of Rocque Records. "We all know that you were here to be recording stuff today. But how about we show where each of you were when the crime was being committed, so we can see what happened." He turned to Carlos. "Where were you when this happened?"

"I was in the snack room" Carlos replied and Noah drew his initial in one of the empty spaces on the board.

"What about you, Kendall?" Patrick questioned.

"I was in the lounge." Kendall replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Logan?"

"In the recording booth."

"James?"

"In the bathroom, doing my hair."

Everybody rolled their eyes at James' response and waited as Noah continued to fill in the empty blanks with the guys' initials. Noah put down the chalk and clapped his hands together, causing a chalky cloud to fill the air. Riley and Rhuben coughed as Noah smiled sheepishly.

"This is great!" Carlos cried excitedly as he looked at the board. "We're _all_ off the hook!"

"What are you talking about, Carlos?" Stephanie asked, looking at him as if he were crazy.

"Look," Carlos pointed at the board, wondering why his friends couldn't see what he was seeing. "It was someone named J. Klick!"

"J. Klick?" Rhuben repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"J," Carlos pointed to James' initial. "K-L-C! Now all we have to do is find J. Klick and make him-"

"Carlos, J. Klick represents each of our initials." Logan pointed out. Carlos frowned, looked at the board again, and went back to where he was sitting before, looking objected.

"Wow, and I thought _Patrick_ was stupid." Sydney stated, shaking his head. Patrick stuck his tongue out at his little brother and Sydney stuck his out in reply. "Now, you are all innocent until proven guilty, so the only fair way to proceed is with a trial by jury!"

Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James' faces lit up at the idea of being able to pretend to be in a court room and as the Jacksons and the girls watched, they ran around, getting everything that was needed to make a makeshift courtroom. They stacked desks on top of each other and found a swivel chair to make as the judge's quarters. They even found a tarp and a mug for the judge to use. They stacked wooden boxes on top of each other to be the witness stand and shoved two tables together at the back to be where the jury would sit.

Soon, everything was finished. Jo was sitting at the top of the stacked desks as the judge, and everybody else was the jury. Jo smiled as she banged the mug against the top of the desk. "Order in the court!" she called. "The case of 'Who-Smashed-Gustavo's-Office' is now in session! James, you may call your first witness."

"Thank you, your honor." James replied and smiled flirtatiously at Jo. "And may I say that you're looking lovely today."

"Just call your witness, please!" Rhuben snapped.

"Right," James cleared his throat. "The State of Confusion calls the Defendant, Kendall Knight to the stand!" Kendall got up and walked over to the witness stand, making sure that he didn't knock over the boxes with his weight.

"Please state your name and hometown for the jury please." Patrick stated, acting like the bailiff.

"Kendall Francis Knight and I'm from St. Paul, Minnesota." Kendall replied clearly. He frowned when his friends started to laugh.

"Francis?" Camille giggled. "Your middle name is Francis?"

"Order in the Court!" Jo called, causing everyone to quiet down. "The fact that Francis is his middle name has nothing to do with the case. Now, may we please return to the subject at hand?" she called. "Anyway-"

"How do you know everything about court rooms anyway?" Carlos interrupted.

"Because I watch a lot of court shows!" Jo snapped back in reply. "May I continue, please?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Thank You." Jo smiled and motioned for James to continue.

"Mr. Knight, how do you plead?" James asked and then got up into Kendall's face. "Which should be _guilty_! Because you _are_ guilty, Mr. Knight! I happen to know for a fact that you _weren't_ in the lounge! As you stated!"

"Well, then, where was he?" Riley questioned.

"He was in the dance studio!" James replied and pulled a sweatband out of his pocket. "Where he got this! Because he was practicing his dance moves!" Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie all glared at Kendall, while Carlos and Logan smiled smugly. "I maintained that Kendall lied about where he was, because he was in Gustavo's office, tearing it up!" He looked around at the stunned silence. "Yes, I can be smart when I want to be" he stated defensively. He turned back around and smiled at Kendall. "I rest my case."

"You ought to rest your lips!" Kendall shouted, glaring at James. "He's lying!"

"You're the one on trial here, Kendall." Jo reminded him gently. Kendall sighed heavily and lowered his gaze to his feet.

"I'll admit to the lesser charge, I _was_ in the dance studio." Kendall replied, looking embarrassed. "But I didn't go anywhere near Gustavo's office!"

"Then what were you doing in the dance studio, when you were _supposed_ be in the lounge, studying?" Logan demanded, thinking that he had gotten Kendall backed in a corner.

"I was…working on a dance, for a present for my mom." Kendall replied, looking even more embarrassed. "Coming up soon is the anniversary for the time when dad left us and mom always gets really depressed around that time. So Katie and I thought that it would be a good idea to create a 'presentation' for her to feel better. I was doing a dance, and Katie was writing a song for her."

"Aww" Camille, Jo, and Stephanie cooed.

"So, I think we've established that Kendall was nowhere near Gustavo's office." Jo concluded as she brushed her hair off of her face.

"I just have one more question" James held up a finger, showing that he wasn't done. "Did anything odd happen while you were dancing?"

"Now that you mention it," Kendall rubbed his chin. "I remember that the door to the studio was open and I remember closing it, hoping that no one would see me."

"Hm, that's odd." Noah muttered as he rubbed his chin. Rhuben looked over at him, knowing that she heard him say something, but wasn't exactly sure. He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing." He replied. Jo sighed.

"Next witness." She called and Logan was the next one to be called to the stand.

"The recording studio, Logie?" Carlos asked as he slowly paced back and forth in front of Logan, who was sitting nervously on the witness stand. "Is that where you _really_ were?"

"It's where I was scheduled to-"

"But you weren't there!" Carlos interrupted. "I have reason to believe that you were in the Rocque Records Gym!" Everybody burst out laughing at that, and Logan pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. He hated to be laughed at, especially by his friends.

"Logan? In the gym?" Riley laughed. "I'm sorry Logie, but that's really hard to believe for you."

"Order in the Court!" Camille slammed the table with the mug over and over again, as she was the judge this time. "Stop making fun of the witness!" she turned to look down at Logan. "Did they hurt your feelings, boo?"

"I don't have to sit here and let you guys laugh at me!" Logan declared as he got down from the witness stand and started to leave. Patrick blocked the way, his arms held out in the 'T' formation, so he couldn't be moved aside.

"Unfortunately, you do." Patrick reminded him gently. "You're in detention, remember?" Logan sighed and went back to the witness stand, sitting up straight.

"Yes, I _was_ in the gym" Logan exclaimed, catching everyone's gaze. "And I bet you guys were wondering why. Well, I've been so tired of people making fun of me being 'wimpy'. So I decided to bulk up a little. I've doing a lot of chest exercises and pushups to work on my upper body strength." He smirked and rolled up the sleeves of his t-shirt. "And I have the guns to prove it." He added and flexed his muscles. Camille sighed longingly and Logan quickly lowered his arms again. "The only weird thing was that, like Kendall, I was sure that I closed the gym door. But I heard loud rap music and saw that the door was wide open."

"And no one else came in?" Rhuben questioned, looking her best friend in the eye. She could always tell that he was lying, because he never looked anyone in the eye. But this time he was staring right back at her.

"No one." He replied truthfully.

'_Rap music and the door to the gym wide open too?_' Noah thought to himself as he rubbed his chin, eyebrows furrowing together. '_What the heck is going on_?'

* * *

"So I was alone in the bathroom, rehearsing my lines and making sure that my face was flawless," James was saying as he was the next one on trial and Sydney was the judge. "For my audition." He explained. "And suddenly, like Logan, I hear loud rap music."

"And you were the only one in the bathroom?" Kendall questioned and when James nodded, Kendall scoffed. "Your honor, James is obviously lying. Where did he get his story? Alibis-R-Us?" he shook his head. "It's obvious that he has no witness to back this up because _he_ was the one that was destroying Gustavo's office!"

"I _knew_ he did it!" Logan shouted. "Throw him to Gustavo! Cut his hair!"

James shrieked and grabbed onto his hair, as if there were a million scissors around his head, waiting to start snipping at his locks. Soon everybody was shouting at each other and pointing fingers at each other. Eventually it got to be too much for Carlos because he yelled something in Spanish, getting everyone's attention.

"James didn't do it," he stated. "And I know that because I was in the bathroom with him."

"I don't think I want to know." Stephanie stated as a disgusted look bloomed onto her face. She shook her head. "Nope, I really don't want to know."

"You were watching me rehearse?" James questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"Taping it, actually." Carlos replied with a grin. "Who knew what kind of dumb stuff you could do when no one was looking. I was planning on putting it on YouTube."

"Thanks a lot." James rolled his eyes.

"Ah, you know I love you, bro!" Carlos replied as he hugged James around the shoulder.

"Objection your honor!" Logan cried, looking exasperated. "He's hugging the witness!"

"Overruled," Sydney replied and smiled cheekily. "I allow hugging in my court." He turned to Carlos. "So if you were in the bathroom, that means that you heard the rap music too." He wrinkled his nose. "Am I right?" Carlos nodded in agreement. "Thought so." He replied, smiling smugly.

"Hey, your honor," Patrick called and continued when he got Sydney's attention. "Don't go getting a big head."

"Too late." Riley and Rhuben harmonized.

"Wait a minute!" Noah leapt to his feet, getting everyone's attention. "I know who did it!"

"You do?"

"Who?"

"Tell us?"

"C'mon!"

"It's all so obvious!" Noah pointed out as he started to pace back and forth, taking his time, making sure he had his time in the spotlight. "It was someone that wanted to make sure that you guys got framed for it. And that showed that he or she has a grudge against you. The rap music was the biggest clue for me. Who listens to rap and wants to get back at you guys?" Noah asked as he turned back to Big Time Rush. He waited as they all looked at each other blankly. "God!" Noah scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm talking about Wayne Wayne!"

"Wayne Wayne?" Jo, Camille, and Stephanie echoed.

"That makes sense!" Logan agreed as he rubbed his chin. "The fact that all of the doors were open, and the rap music was so loud. It would have covered the sound of his messing up Gustavo's office until he wanted us to rush over there. And that's what the giant bang was! We're off the hook!"

Logan grinned and came together with his friends into a group hug, cheering about being off the hook. Kendall grinned as he turned to his friends.

"And we owe it all to you guys, thanks so much!" he cried.

"It was nothing," Riley replied and waved it off. "But we're getting two points in the competition for this." She smirked. "This means that the score is Big Time Rush 1, to DarkElements 4. You're falling behind."

"It doesn't mean we won't catch up." Kendall replied, smiling back.

"Well, what are you guys waiting for? Go tell Gustavo what happened" Jo instructed as Patrick opened the door for them.

"What would they do without us?" Stephanie asked with a smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Probably end up in jail." Rhuben commented.

* * *

"So you see Gustavo, it wasn't us that tore up your office."

Logan just finished explaining everything that had happened in their court room and they were now waiting for him to respond. He was just sitting in his chair, his lips plumped out and his eyes hidden by sunglasses, but the way that his eyebrows were pinched showed the boys that he was glaring at them. Kelly stood beside him, nervously.

"Fine, you didn't break my stuff." Gustavo replied slowly. "But we have something else to talk about."

"What's that?" James asked, looking confused.

"Your test grades." Kelly replied. Spring Break is next week and we need to go over your grades to see if you're eligible to have a break." Kelly reached into the stack of folders that were in her arms and slapped three manila folders onto Gustavo's desk. Carlos quickly counted them.

"There's only three there." He pointed out.

"I know," Kelly replied with a short nod and motioned over to Logan. "Logan here tested out of them because of his good grades." Logan smirked as his friends glared over at him. "Anyway, Gustavo, you need to check over their scores."

"Right," Gustavo loudly replied. He picked up the three manila envelopes and leafed through them for a few minutes. He had seen what their grades were, but he was just making them sweat just for kicks. Although he was a little bit surprised. Finally, he cleared his throat and put the folders down. "You passed." He deadpanned.

"Yes!" Carlos, James, and Kendall cried in unison, punching the air and high-fiving each other.

"Now get out of my office!" Gustavo instructed.

The four boys heeded his words and they headed back to the Palm Woods so Kendall could tell his mom the good news. "Mom!" he called as he kicked open the door to the apartment.

"Kendall, don't break the door!" Mrs. Knight cried and ran over to inspect it. "Now that axe murderer is going to come back here and kill us all!"

"Mom!" Katie rolled her eyes from where she was sitting on the couch. "He's Buddha Bob and he's perfectly nice. You already know that."

"You don't know that for sure!" Mrs. Knight replied.

"Mom, I have good news." Kendall interrupted. "We passed our tests. We can go on Spring Break!"

"That's great, honey." Mrs. Knight stated and gave her son a hug. "That means that we can go back to Minnesota."

"What?" Kendall, Katie, James, Carlos, and Logan repeated.

"Oh didn't I tell you?" Mrs. Knight questioned, looking slightly confused. "I must have not. During Spring Break we're going back to Minnesota." She smiled. "So we can see our families and friends and just have a lot of fun."

"Whooooohoooooo!"

Kendall, Katie, James, Carlos, and Logan rushed to go pack their things, the idea of going back to Minnesota making them even more excited than the news of going out to LA in the first place.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so what did you think of this chapter? I had gotten the idea off of many court episodes of TV shows and thought that I should do it for Big Time Rush make it funny. I was laughing out when I was writing this story. I hope you were laughing when you read it. Let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading!**

**-Riley**


	22. Big Time Minnesota Pt1

**.:Chapter Twenty Two – Big Time Minnesota Pt.1:.**

**

* * *

**"So what you're saying is that you want to take them with you to Minnesota" Ronan stated as he crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows. "That's pretty much what you're saying, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Kendall replied, shifting nervously. He, James, Carlos, and Logan were at the Jacksons' apartment t the Palm Woods, trying to see if they could take their friends with them to Minnesota to spend Spring Break together. "So can they?"

"Why are you asking me?" Ronan looked a little offended. "I'm not their father."

"We know that," Carlos jumped into the conversation. "But we were hoping to keep this as kind of a surprise. Of course you and Julius could know, but we want the rest of them to have some fun and not think about their dad."

Ronan sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. Even though they didn't say anything, Ronan could tell by their actions that at many times of the day, the Jacksons thought about their father. In one instance, they would just stop and stare off into space, a scared look on their face. As if they were looking at a ghost of him right in front of them. Other times they wouldn't sleep well and would stay up, hoping to not dream of him. Other times, they would just suddenly burst out with a scream or a shout, as if they had just been hit or were being threatened. It was hard to deal with at times, but Ronan had promised that he would always be there to help them. Especially through something as traumatic as this.

"You know what; I think some time off for them would be a good idea." Ronan stated after a second of thinking. "Julius and I were just talking about that. They haven't really gotten a break in a while." He paused. "But they really had their hearts set on going back home to Australia."

"Well, how about we do this," Logan thought for a second, racking his brain for an idea. "If they come to Minnesota with us for Spring Break, we'll take the first week off of the summer to visit them in Australia."

"Well, you're going to have to ask them," Ronan replied and stood up. "Because if it comes to that, I don't think that you'd be able to make it a surprise."

"That's great." James' smiled faded for a second as he looked around. "Where are they?"

"Oh, they're playing video games in there," Ronan replied as he pointed to a closed door towards the back of the apartment. "Julius is sleeping and I was taking the one moment of peace and quiet to get some reading done." He heaved a heavy sigh as there was a loud shout and laughter coming from the room. "Well, there goes the quiet." He laughed as he scratched the back of his neck. "Don't get me wrong, I love having them around, but they can be so tiring sometimes."

"Spoken like a true parent." Logan pointed out with a chuckle of agreement. Ronan gave him an odd look before going into one of the other bedrooms. "C'mon guys, let's go tell them the surprise."

He led Big Time Rush across the apartment to the room as screams and laughter got louder. "OUCH! PATRICK WATCH WHERE YOU'RE THROWING THAT!" they could hear Riley yell, and then there was a pause before she spoke again. "Take this!"

Kendall raised an eyebrow and opened the bedroom door to see Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney sitting on the bed, laughing hysterically, faces red. Riley and Patrick were on the floor. Riley was sitting on Patrick's back, pushing his face into the carpet as Patrick frantically kicked his arms and legs, trying to get his oldest sister off of his back.

"Ooh, can I play?" Carlos asked excitedly.

"Not unless you want to have your butt kicked," Riley replied as she slid off of Patrick's back, giving him time to lift his head from the floor and take a deep breath of air. "What's up?"

"Well, we sort of have a surprise for you guys." Logan said slowly, gauging his friends' reactions. Sydney got to his feet and started to jump up and down on the bed, causing Rhuben and Noah to go bouncing to the floor.

"What kind of a surprise?" he questioned before jumping off the bed and landing on the ground with a dull thud. "Is it a food kind of surprise? Maybe candy?"

"No, it's something better than that." Kendall replied with a little laugh. "We're going back to Minnesota for our Spring Break and we wanted to know if you guys wanted to come with us." The Jacksons paused and looked at each other. "We know that you guys had your hearts set on going back home to Australia, but we thought that it would be fun to go back to our home and show you what it was like."

"Can you give us time to talk about this?" Rhuben asked as she scratched her forehead. "I mean, we haven't been home for a long, long, time."

"We understand," Carlos replied smiling sympathetically. "Just give us a call when you make up your mind. We're going to be at the mall."

"Ok." The Jacksons chorused together.

The four boys turned and left the apartment, hoping that they would agree to go to Minnesota with them. They could all understand why they wouldn't want to go as they had left Australia to go to California years ago and never really had a chance to see their hometown because their father was such a dictator and didn't want them to be happy. They also understood that it was kind of unfair as the boys had left Minnesota only a couple of months ago, five at the most, and they were already being able to go back home. It just made them want to make sure that their friends were happy.

And when it came to abused children it was harder than it seemed.

* * *

Kendall was sitting in his room, trying to finish packing his suitcase when his cell phone went off. Sighing heavily, he got off of the top of his suitcase, which refused to close, and grabbed is cell before the person that was on the other end didn't get off.

"Hello?" he greeted into the phone as he went back to his evil suitcase.

"Hey, it's Riley." Riley's voice wafted out from the other end of the phone. Kendall immediately stopped what he was doing and stood up straight.

"Hey, what's up?" he questioned casually.

"Not much," Riley let out a sigh; he could practically see her rolling her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to close my suitcase," Kendall replied as he looked over at it with disdain. "You know the ones that seem to refuse to close no matter how much you want it to close just so you don't have to deal with it anymore?"

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about." Riley let out a small laugh. "We're having that problem ourselves. You should see it, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney are all on top of Noah's suitcase, trying to close it. That's why I called, actually."

"To tell me that you're having trouble with your suitcase?" Kendall asked, raising his eyebrows. That didn't really make any sense.

"No, to say that we decided to take your guys' offer." Riley replied. "We haven't been to Australia in a long time, but there's always other chances that we can go back home. And it's the fact that you guys offered it in the first place." She paused. "Although, we know that you're doing it just to make us feel happy."

"That's not the only reason why-"

"It doesn't matter." Riley interrupted, sounding annoyed. "When are you guys leaving?"

"We're going to the airport later tonight." Kendall replied, racking his brain for what his mother had told him. "About 9:00 or so." He looked at his watch, it was already 6:45, as they had gone to the Jacksons at 4:30, and spent most of their time at the mall.

"Ok, we'll meet you guys there." Riley sighed heavily. "We just have to make sure that Patrick has everything, because he is always the one that seems to be forgetting something."

Kendall laughed. "I know that feeling."

" Later."

"Bye"

Kendall hung up his cell phone and slid it into his pants pocket before leaving the room that he and Logan shared. (Or course Logan had already had his things packed and in an orderly fashion as soon as they had heard about going back to Minnesota.) And of course Kendall was the kind of guy that would wait until the last minute because according to him he works well under pressure. He stopped and stared when he saw that the whole front room seemed to be covered in clothes. Carlos, Logan, and Katie were standing around; watching s James threw things out of his suitcase. Mrs. Knight was ignoring the whole thing, sitting at the kitchen table and reading a magazine.

"What are you doing?" Kendall asked as he walked over to James slowly, afraid of getting hit in the face with something.

"I can't find my comb and my mirror!" James replied, sounding as if he was going to cry. "I can't find it in my room and I can't find it in my stuff!" he grabbed Kendall by the front of his shirt and started to shake him. "Dude! Help. Me. Find It."

"Calm down," Kendall replied, shoving his friend away from him. "I'm sure it around here somewhere." He turned to Logan. "Logane, what's the probability that he'll find it before we leave?"

"Oh, about a 1 in 256,978 chance." Logan replied as he looked at the ceiling in thought. "Then again, knowing James he'll probably just buy some more stuff and then find it later." He smirked and moved his hand out from behind his back, showing that he had the mirror and the comb. Beside him, Carlos snickered, as he was getting James' freak out on his cell phone.

"What's up, bro?" Katie asked as she turned to face him. "You look like you have something to tell us."

"I do, actually." Kendall replied, remembering why he had gone out there in the first place. "Riley just called and-"

"She called you and not me?" Logan looked offended. "Wow, some best friend she is." He added jokingly. "What did she say?"

"She said that they've decided to come along to Minnesota with us." Kendall replied and grinned, giving Logan and Carlos a high-five. "This is going to be awesome, guys! We're going back home. Now you don't have to worry about the fever anymore." He teased.

"Oh come on, you knew that you were going to have the fever eventually." Carlos pointed out as he slapped his helmet for emphasis. "I mean, California ice can't beat Minnesota ice."

"Yeah and your heard is so empty you'd eventually be talking to yourself." Katie added as she patted her brother on the arm. "I mean, we already knew this, but the first sign of being insane is talking to yourself." She smiled sympathetically. "So you better get some help now."

"Ha ha" Kendall rolled his eyes and frowned as a shirt landed on his head. "James, would you knock it off!" he snapped as she pulled the shirt off of his head and tossed it to the ground. "Logan has your come and mirror!"

Logan looked over at Kendall with a wide-eyed panicked expression and silently started to plead with his friend as James' head whipped around, sending his brown locks flying into his eyes. "Give it back!" James shouted and jumped on top of Logan, knocking the two to the clothes covered ground. Katie shrieked with laughter and dove out of the way, making sure that she didn't get caught in the fray.

Sure she thought that Kendall and his friends were idiots, but they were really the only friends that she had back home. Other girls were too afraid to get near her as she got really competitive over everything. That and she wasn't as girly as the other girls in her class. Sometimes she couldn't stand being around the guys all the time. But they were a good source of entertainment and they were good to have around when she got lonely.

"But back to the subject at hand," Carlos stated as she looked up from James and Logan and turned back to Kendall. "Why was it that Riley called you instead of Logan?"

"How should I know?" Kendall replied as she flopped down beside his sister on the couch. "Who do you think will win?" he asked her.

"My money is on James." She replied with a nod.

"Same here." Kendall agreed.

"No, Kendall," Carlos grabbed his attention again. "Think about it. Why would she call you specifically?" he grinned. "Face it, dude. She likes you."

"No she doesn't." Kendall replied, snorting as if it was the most ridiculous idea in the world.

"Yes she does." Carlos insisted.

"No, she doesn't"

"Yes, she does!" Carlos rolled his eyes and turned to Logan, who was still wrestling James on the floor. With the recent trips that he had taken to the gym, he now was able to put up a fight against the stronger boy. "Logan, does Riley like Kendall?"

"How could she like him when she could like me?" James demanded as he shoved Logan away from him. "I mean, even her sister likes me better."

"You don't know that for sure," Logan said to James before turning to face Carlos and Kendall. "And it's possible, but I don't know that for sure." He shrugged. "I haven't been around her for a long time, so I don't know what she does when she likes someone. I mean, you could look for signs-"

"_Or_ you could just ask her." Katie interrupted, giving a girl's point of view. "Worse she could do is laugh."

"No, the worst that she could do is _point_ and laugh." Carlos replied. "Like this." He took a deep breath, pointed at Kendall, and started laughing hysterically. Kendall lifted his foot and kicked Carlos to the ground, next to Logan and James.

"Boys." Katie sighed as she rolled her eyes, before turning to call over her shoulder. "Mom, are we going to get something to eat before we go?"

"No, we actually have to be getting to the airport soon anyway." Mrs. Knight said as she looked at her watch. "I'm thinking that we might need to get a few cabs to get everything there."

"Or, we could just get Bitters to help us." Carlos replied. Mrs. Knight snorted, knowing that the Palm Woods hotel manager didn't want anything to do with the guys. He had the idea that they were spawns of Satan and that they had some sort of a curse on him.

"What makes you think that he's going to help?" She questioned.

"Don't worry mom," Kendall slowly smiled as he, James, Logan, and Carlos cracked their knuckles. "We can be persuasive when we want to be."

* * *

"So you went down the front desk and threatened him to help you guys?" Rhuben asked Logan, who laughed and nodded in reply. "Logan Mitchell I and shocked and surprised." She laughed as she shoved his shoulder. "In a good way." She added when he looked worried. "Who would have thought that Logan Mitchell would threaten someone?"

"You know what they say, moving can change a person." Logan smiled in reply.

"Right." Rhuben's smile slowly faded as she turned to look out the plane window.

They were all on the plane headed for Minnesota. Ronan, Mrs. Knight, and Julius were sitting together. Patrick, Noah, and James were sitting together. Logan, Riley, and Rhuben were sitting together. And Kendall, Carlos, and Katie were sitting together. Sydney had gotten out of his seat and was sitting on Riley's lap, watching as she was playing a video game on her Nintendo DS.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked as he looked over at his oldest friend.

"Nothing," Riley replied, barely looking away from her game. "She just doesn't really like planes."

"That's only because you make us watch too much ID on TV," Rhuben replied as she rolled her eyes and turned to Logan. "You see, ID is Investigation Discovery and all she ever makes us watch is mystery shows where cops try to figure out who murdered who and how this plane went down and blah, blah, blah."

"You got admit, the science behind that is so interesting." Logan commented.

"Oh I know," Riley put down her game and smiled at her friend. "The way that they use their criminal knowledge and the DNA that they find to figure out whom the suspect was."

"Yeah, and they what that they're able to find out who he's talked to before the crime was committed."

"If you two idiots are done," Rhuben snapped, "You're not helping me here!"

"Sorry, Bella." Logan apologized and grabbed her hand. "How about this? I won't let go until we're back on the ground, ok?"

"Whatever." Rhuben muttered in reply, putting her chin in her hand and looking out the window.

"You do know that looking out the window isn't going to-"

"Shut up, Logie."

"Ok!"

There was a slight dinging sound as the fasten seatbelts sign came back on, signaling everybody that they were going to be landing again soon. Kendall fastened his seatbelt quickly, anxious about being back in Minnesota, but also listening to Riley's and Logan's conversation behind him.

'_They have a lot of fun together,_' he thought to himself, looking straight ahead and waiting. '_And they have a lot in common. It makes sense that they became our friends because of Logan, but it still seems to me that they like him the most, as if they aren't really our friends at all._' He frowned as another thought popped up in his head. '_No. There's no way that I'm jealous_.' He shook the thought away and waited as he felt the plane starting to land.

After a bit of taxing and waiting for other people to get off of the plane first, Big Time Rush, DarkElements, Katie, Mrs. Knight, Ronan, and Julius had officially arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota. They waited for about a half hour to make sure that they had all of their bags (carry on and suitcases) and headed outside to get a taxi.

"Um, you guys are probably going to want to get your coats on." Kendall pointed out when he noticed that Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney were all in shorts. "It's pretty cold out here." He added motioning to everybody else who had sweatshirts, coats, hats, and gloves on. (It's the spring, and I know that it can still get pretty cold and even snow, in Minnesota in the spring.)

Riley snorted. "We'll be fine." She replied as she waved off the idea.

Kendall shrugged and turned away as he followed everybody outside the terminal to try and find a taxi. It was lightly snowing and the sound of slush being run over by cars made him smile. He was definitely back in Minnesota. Now he could-

"YEOW! IT'S COLD!"

He turned around and started laughing with the others when they saw Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney were half buried in their suitcases, trying to find their jackets and sweatshirts.

"I told you so."

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so there's going to be seven parts to Big Time Minnesota because it's going to go through the seven days they're all there on Spring Break. And each chapter is going to focus on one of the guys of Big Time Rush, and because he's the leader, the first part is going to be centered on Kendall. The next one is centered on James. Thanks for reading and I hope you guys are still enjoying it!**

**-Riley**


	23. Big Time Minnesota Pt2

**.:Chapter Twenty Three – Big Time Minnesota Pt.2:.**

**

* * *

**"Bye mom, Bye Dad, I'm going to go snowboarding." James called as he shuffled through the living room of his house, dragging a snowboard behind him. He was moving as fast as he could because he didn't want to get caught by his over protective mother. And something high above must have been on his side because he was able to make it out the front door before his mom could question him incessantly. "Whew, made it!"

"Glad to see that you didn't get hassled by your mom, James." Logan greeted cheerfully. James smiled in reply when he saw his friends standing on the sidewalk in front of his house, dressed from head to toe in winter gear. It was just like old times. "Otherwise we would have frozen to death."

"Just like old times!"Carlos declared a huge smile on his face. James, Kendall, and Logan burst out laughing at their friend's hyperness. He grabbed them into a group hug. "Doesn't it feel great?"

"Being able to breathe would be great." Kendall gasped in reply as he shoved Carlos' hand off of his neck. "So, all we have to do now is get the Jacksons and we can go snowboarding."

"Where are they staying?" James asked as he filed in behind his friends.

"They're staying at the Marriott that's a few blocks away." Kendall replied. "I just hope that they're not freezing to death."

* * *

"SHUT THE DOOR!"

Logan flinched and quickly shut the door to the suite behind him. He turned back around and snorted when he saw Julius, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney all huddled together on one couch, under a mountain of blankets and pillows. Ronan was sitting at the small table in the corner of the suite, surfing the web and not really paying attention to his clients.

"Wow, you guys must really hate the cold." Kendall commented with a small laugh.

"Shut up." Sydney snapped and pulled the blanket around him tighter. Noah let out a sound of protest and grabbed on to the blanket. "Stop it! You're hogging all the warmth!"

"Um, what are you doing?" James asked as he dropped his snowboard to the ground and pulled his snow hat off of his head to fluff his hair.

"Trying to stay warm, what does it look like?" Julius replied as he raised his eyebrow. "I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but we're from Australia _and_ California, we don't like the cold."

"But snowboarding is so much fun," Carlos stated and stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "I'll be your best friend if you come with us."

"You already are." Rhuben pointed out as if it was obvious.

"Hey!" Logan sounded offended.

"No one can replace you, Logie-Bear," Riley stated as she rolled her eyes, her lips curling into a smile at the sound of his old nick-name. "Don't worry."

"Logie-Bear?" Kendall, James, and Carlos repeated as they turned to look at their friend.

"It's just a stupid nickname," Logan replied laughing nervously before turning back to Riley and glaring. "You promised you won't call me that anymore!"

"Anyway," Kendall broke into the conversation. "You can't just come out here with us and sit in the hotel all day." He rolled his eyes at Patrick's interjection of 'watch-us'. "Come on, you guys are going to have a lot of fun."

"You might as well go," Ronan finally spoke up, gently closing the top of his laptop. "I'm going to be swamped here working on your website and stuff."

"I thought you were our manager" Rhuben replied as she snuggled deeper into the warmth of the blankets and pillows.

"I am," Ronan replied and then laughed sarcastically. "But along the way god decided that my job was too easy so he wanted me to watch after all of you and become your publicist at the same time." He turned serious. "But I need peace and quiet to get my work done, so go with them. I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Fine," Julius stood up, pulling the blankets off of the couch. "C'mon guys, Ronan deserve at least an hour away from your antics."

"You're forgetting that you're the one that usually gives us the dumb ideas that we go along with." Riley stated as she climbed off the couch, the sweatshirt that she was wearing falling down to her knees and the sleeves hanging over her hands.

"Hey, that's my sweatshirt!" Julius cried as he looked at it with a raised eyebrow.

"What? You said that whatever you left behind when you went off to college we can have."

"Yeah, but I didn't say that you could purposely hide it so that you could have it."

Riley stuck her tongue out in reply as they all went to their rooms to get changed to go snowboarding. James walked over and flopped down onto the vacated couch as Kendall, James, and Logan started to talk about what jumps they were going to go off of. James turned his head to add into the conversation, but something shiny caught his eye. He turned back and picked up a large silver plated picture frame and smiled when he saw the two pictures that were in it. They were both professionally done, the top one was of the Jacksons recently, standing in age and height order, smiling widely. The bottom one was when they were much younger, Sydney being a baby, and they were lying on top of each other, but their smiles looked forced.

"So can we get going?" Rhuben snapped as she walked out of hers and Riley's shared room, pulling a knit hat over her hair. "The faster we get out of here the faster I can warm."

"Well, I could warm you up another way." James offered, smiling as he set down the picture. Rhuben smiled warmly in reply.

"Thanks for the offer," she replied and let out a small sigh. "But I'm not a relationship kind of person."

"No one said it had to be a relationship, just a bit of fun." James replied with a shrug.

"Ok, James, leave my friend alone." Logan stated as he rolled his eyes. "You must have forgotten but she can easily beat up anyone she wants to." He paused as the two started to snicker. "Not that anyone would want to try."

"What's so funny?" Noah asked as everybody else left their rooms, dressed from head to toe in winter gear. "Where's Katie?" he added as an afterthought.

"She's going to meet us at the lodge later." Carlos replied.

"Lodge?" Patrick repeated as he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, we're going up to a ski lodge to go snowboarding," James explained at the confused look on the Jacksons faces. "There's not many great snowboarding places around here where you don't run the risk of running some kids over." His smile grew wider. "Plus, there are always a lot of hotter girls up at the ski lodge."

"Good to know." Patrick replied with a grin. He frowned and pouted as Riley slapped him on the back of the head, rolling her eyes. "Ouch! What? I was just agreeing with James!"

"Yeah and I think you've been hanging around him too much." She replied with a pointed look towards the tall brunette, who smiled sheepishly in reply.

"At the risk of you guys knocking each other's limbs off," Julius grabbed the rental car keys from Ronan's hand and shoved them into his pocket, turning back to Kendall. "Where to?"

* * *

"Ouch!" Rhuben growled as she hit the ground again. James laughed as she easily boarded over to her, watching as she brushed snow off of her lap, unclipping her snowboard from her feet. "It's _not_ funny! This is harder than it looks"

She looked up at the top of the hill, where her brothers were trying their runs down the bunny slope. Julius was easily boarding down the hill; Sydney was slowly skiing after him. Patrick and Noah were trying to pull each other to their feet, and Riley was just sitting at the top of the hill, talking to Kendall and Logan. Carlos and Katie were busy building a snowman.

"From my view, it is." James replied as he grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. "You were leaning back too far that time. Try keeping your balanced centered and you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say," Rhuben huffed as she continued to brush snow off of her arms and legs. "You've grown up with the snow." She peered over at him with annoyance. "News flash, not everyone likes the snow."

"That's true," James mused as he unclipped his feet from his snowboard. "But I'm sure you'll grow to love it." He smiled mischievously as he crouched towards the ground. His smile grew bigger as Rhuben continued on with her rant, not noticing that James was now standing up, grinning at her evilly, a hand clutching a snowball behind his back.

"What?" Rhuben narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Just thinking of a way that would make you like the snow better." He replied and shoved the snowball into her face.

"James!" Rhuben sputtered as she brushed the snow from her face as James burst out laughing. She reached down, quickly made a snowball, and tossed it into James' face himself, before the two broke out into a small snowball fight.

"Hey, Bella!" Rhuben stopped what she was doing and shielded her face from the sun as she turned to see what Logan wanted. He was standing up at the top of the hill, knees bent and a look of concentration on his face. He smiled and waved when he saw that he had Rhuben's attention. "Check this out!" he called.

Rhuben watched as he prepared himself before bending his knees and starting his descent down the hill, carving his way back and forth over the fresh powder that had fallen onto the ground. He aimed for the hill that was towards the bottom. He bent his knees and jumped as he reached the end of the jump and did a simple 180 before bending his knees to turn back towards them.

"Nice job, Logie-Bear!" Rhuben called as she clapped appreciatively, missing James' frown of annoyance.

"Thanks, Bell-Bell." Logan stated as he rolled his eyes. Rhuben rolled her eyes too and turned to notice the confused expression on James' face.

"Oh," she chuckled. "My full name is Rhubella, but I like to go by Rhuben." She explained and then jostled Logan. "And Logie here has always called me Bella or Bell-Bell, when I didn't want him to." She added pointedly.

"Hey, it's just payback." Logan shrugged in reply. "I'm getting kind of tired, do you guys want to go up to the lodge to get some hot chocolate," he motioned to the top of the hill. "That's where everyone else is going."

"Yeah, I was getting kind of hungry anyway." James agreed. "Let's go."

* * *

"Ok, what's one thing that you're exceptionally bad at?" Kendall asked, putting down his mug of hot chocolate and leaned back on the couch. He, Carlos, James, Logan, Riley, Rhuben, and Julius were sitting on the couches in the lobby of the lodge, drinking hot chocolate. Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Katie were back outside trying to build snow forts to have a big snowball fight.

"You mean besides snowboarding?" Riley joked and looked at the ceiling in thought. "I don't know, it has to be making jokes." She rolled her eyes towards her brother and sister. "Because apparently, my jokes are corny."

"They aren't funny either." Julius put his two cents in and smirked. "But don't worry, not everyone is good at telling jokes." Riley stuck he tongue out in reply.

"Ok, my turn." Riley looked around and then her eyes settled on James. "Ok, Jameo, what's one thing that no one knows about you?"

"Well, the guys know this about me," James hesitated for a second before continuing. "But I used to be, sort of, a chubby kid." He cleared his throat and continued. "I mean, you could barely see the difference between my head and my neck. It was actually kind of bad." He turned to Julius. "What do you look for in a girl?"

"His girlfriend," Riley and Rhuben replied in unison as they made disgusted faces as Julius smiled, as if he had heard that too many times before. "They've been dating for about two years now."

"You have a girlfriend?" Carlos asked, looking eager.

"Her name's Brittany," Julius replied, not being able to hide his smile as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket. "Here's a picture of her." He pulled out a picture and handed it over to Carlos. "Do you guys have girlfriends?"

"No, not yet." James replied as he leaned back on the couch, his eyes resting on Riley and Rhuben. "But I've been looking."

"And we all know that Camille has been looking at Logan." Kendall added as she gently shoved his friend to the side. Julius smiled warmly as he took back the picture from Carlos.

"What? Do you not like her?" he questioned.

James tuned out of the conversation as he thought about all of the girls that he had gone out with, and all of the tones that his friends had gone out with. It was odd, as he was the one that could easily get a date, but when it came to the girls of the Palm Woods, they all seemed to be attracted to his friends and not him. He knew that Jo, Stephanie, and Camille all liked Kendall, Carlos, and Logan respectively. But everybody else seemed to have no feelings for him whatsoever. It didn't make any sense and Riley and Rhuben seemed to be the same way.

"Is something wrong, James?" Carlos asked, turning to his friend.

"Me?" James shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong. I was just thinking that we should be getting back soon. You know my mom, she worries too much."

"He's right." Logan agreed. "And you know his and my mom are the worst ones out of the four of us." He shook his head. "But you'd figure that being out in LA for as long as we have been living there they would have loosened up by now."

"I'll take your word for it." Julius replied, looking uncomfortable. He nudged Riley and Rhuben. "C'mon, let's go get the Little Terrors." He led his sisters out of the room.

"So, I'm assuming that talking about our mothers has hit a nerve." James stated as he turned to Logan, who sighed and nodded in reply. "It seems like there's not much that we can do to make them happy." He added as an afterthought.

"They've been psychologically forced into thinking that no one cares about them," Logan pointed out, getting a little defensive. "How would you feel?"

"Relax; I'm just stating a point." James replied as he held his hands up defensively. "I think that we should take them to the ice rink tomorrow." He grinned. "That way we can play some hockey too."

"Sounds good." Kendall smiled and nodded in agreement. "Much better than what I was going to say. Nice job, James."

"Thank you." James smiled smugly in reply as he patted his friend on the shoulder. "See, I'm not as stupid as you think."

"We didn't say you were." Carlos replied as he moved past his friend. "But we were thinking it." He replied under his breath. They all walked outside to see Katie, Sydney, Noah, and even Ronan blasting Patrick with a bunch of snowballs.

"Ow! Ow! Ok, I'm sorry! Stop!" Patrick cried as he shielded his face. "Not the hair!" he added in a high-pitched shriek as he moved his hands up to block his Mohawk. "Anything, but my hair."

"Seriously," Noah stated as he stopped throwing snowballs. "I think you care about your hair too much."

"It's actually a good value to have," James stated as he brushed snow from Patrick's hair. "Especially if you don't want it to fall limp and lifeless because of water." Patrick beamed up at him and James smiled back. He looked up when he noticed that everybody was staring at him. "What?"

Noah wordlessly picked up a snowball and chucked it at Patrick's face before everybody barraged the two of them with snowballs.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter is about Carlos and his friendship with the Jacksons, which is pretty much what the parts of Big Time Minnesota are about. I hope you guys are still enjoying it. Sorry it took so long for this chapter to be put up; I was taking a small break over the weekend.**

**-Riley**


	24. Big Time Minnesota Pt3

**.:Chapter Twenty Four – Big Time Minnesota Pt.3:.**

**

* * *

**"This is the school that you went to?" Noah questioned as he cocked his head to the side. "It looks kind of small." He added as he turned towards Big Time Rush. "Is it a public school?"

"Yeah, what kind of school did you go to before you were home schooled?" Carlos asked as he turned to the Jacksons, who were looking up at the school front with odd expressions on their faces.

"We went to a private school," Patrick replied and stifled a snort. "Uniforms and all." He turned to Katie, who was standing beside him. "What school did you go to?"

Katie let out a sigh as a wry smiled crossed her face. "A middle school down the road." She replied and rolled her eyes. "Not much different from this one and both of them had really crappy sports teams."

Carlos couldn't help but laugh. It was true. Both of their schools had a rule that you had to participate in one sport through the whole year. He, James, Kendall, and Logan were on their school's hockey team and even though they enjoyed playing it, they lost almost every game. But the four of them never really cared, the fact that they were able to play hockey whenever they wanted was a huge dream for them, especially Kendall, whose dream is to become a player of the NHL. Long stretch, but they all had different dreams that they wanted to pursue.

"Well, aren't we going to go inside and see what's been going on?"Katie interrupted the silence. "Because I don't really feel like standing out here all day."

Carlos looked over at her and smiled sympathetically. Kendall had told them how Katie had liked Julius, and how upset she had been when she found out that he had a girlfriend. He understood the feeling; most of the girls that he asked out didn't want to date him. Carlos' grin grew wider at the thought of the only exception. Stephanie King was new to the Palm Woods and they had immediately clicked. Before he left to Minnesota, they had agreed to go on a date when they got back.

"What are you grinning about?" Sydney asked, poking Carlos in the side, getting his attention.

"Nothing," Carlos replied, stifling his smile as he followed everyone inside. "Nothing at all."

As soon as the doors closed behind them, all of the kids that were in the hallways stopped and stared at the two bands that were standing in front of them. "Uh, what's up with them?" Logan questioned nervously.

"Hi everybody!" Carlos greeted cheerfully, trying to break the silence.

"It's Big Time Rush!" a random girl, who they had never seen before, called loudly. The boys stared as a group of people rushed over to the four of them, asking them what it was like in Hollywood, if they could sign this poster, and how it felt to be back in Minnesota.

"We missed this place a lot," James was saying, causing Carlos to roll his eyes, knowing how much James was loving the attention. "But it's always nice to be able to come back home."

"What's Gustavo Rocque like?" a jock asked, gripping onto a football. "Is he really as nasty as they say?"

"That and more," Carlos stated, laughing nervously. "Back in LA, he seemed to be everywhere, and he pushed us really hard. But it was worth it, our first CD is going to come out soon, most likely over the summer. Will you guys buy it?"

There was a unanimous reply that everybody was going to buy the CD, but it was soon masked by the sound of groans as a bell rang throughout the corridor. The Jacksons jumped and looked around wildly when they heard that sound as the students began to rush off to class.

"What was that?" Sydney asked, his wide eyes looking around in shock.

"That was just the bell," Kendall replied as he chuckled a little bit, raising his eyebrows. "What? You guys didn't have a bell system at your school?" Riley shook her head.

"No," she replied. "We just had clocks and whenever it said the right time to leave, we left." She shrugged and then looked annoyed. "We got a lot of detentions that way, but it was fun." She grinned evilly. "Especially when you were able to clean out teacher's rooms for detention."

"Cleaning is fun?" Logan repeated, looking unconvinced. "To you? Riley Jackson? Are you feeling ok?" He placed his hand on her forehead, and she quickly shoved his hand away.

"It was only fun because we were able to find out things about other students that no one else knew." Rhuben explained.

"And she's not the only one," Patrick agreed. "There was a lot of stuff that I figured out about the most popular kids in school." He turned to his siblings. "Did you know that Greg Pierce has ADHD?"

"That would make sense as to why he was laughing so much that one year." Sydney murmured to himself. "Keep in mind that this was before we were homeschooled."

"So, are we going to get the grand tour or are we just going to go straight to the ice rink?" Noah added as he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, a school is a school and I really want to play hockey." Kendall stated as a pleading look came onto his face.

"Sure thing, Kendall," Carlos agreed. "You aren't the only one who wants to play hockey." He laughed as he turned to the Jacksons, his hand over his mouth. "But we're the ones who don't whine about it." He added in a stage whisper. "That reminds me, my mom is making this really big dinner to celebrate that we're back home, and you guys can come too." He grinned. "As much Mexican food as you can eat!"

"My favorite!" Sydney declared happily.

* * *

"C'mon Katie, you've been on skates before." Kendall laughed as he watched his sister wobble across the ice.

She planted her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at her brother. They were at the local skating rink, much to the boys' delight. The Jacksons were already on the ice, skating around casually, they weren't having any problems, a big improvement to the morning before where they could hardly stand up on a snowboard.

"Do you know how long it's been?" she screeched, trying to keep her balance, arms wind milling as she tried to keep her balance. "Besides, I'm not the one that disappears off to the ice rink every time I get home sick."

"That's because you _don't_ get homesick." Kendall pointed out as he staked over and grabbed his sister's arm. "You're too busy trying to make LA bankrupt."

"C'mon guys, you can't just sit there all day." Carlos declared as she skated up, holding onto a hockey stick. He lightly hit Kendall in the chest with a gloved hand. "C'mon dude, let's play." He motioned over to James and Logan, who were taking shots on an empty net.

"All right." Kendall replied with a smile and moved his hockey mask over his face.

"Uh, Kendall? Help?" Katie called as she started to wobble a little bit more. Just before she fell Patrick skated by and grabbed onto her arm. Katie let out a breath of relief. "Thanks. I was worried that my butt was going to make a permanent imprint on the ice."

"Better than cracking your head open." Patrick replied with a smile.

"I didn't know that you guys could skate," Katie noted as she raised an eyebrow as Riley and Rhuben skated by, holding onto Sydney's hands. Noah skated over to answer her and Patrick frowned slightly, before plastering on a fake smile. "I mean, you guys were kind of bad when it came to snowboarding."

"Well, we had a photo shoot to do on skates once," Noah explained as he brushed his hair out of his face, nervously. "And we loved it so much that we stayed there for hours after the shoot ended."

"Then again, we are the kind of people that like to try things that we haven't tried before." Patrick added and watched as James checked Carlos into the boards of the ice rink and smiled a little bit. "Do you want to play?" he asked his brother, who slowly grinned and nodded in reply. "Hey guys, can we play?" Patrick called as he skated over to the four boys.

"Have you played hockey before?" Carlos asked as he raised his eyebrows at them.

"Once or twice." Noah replied with a modest shrug.

"Sounds fun, let's play." Rhuben declared and went over to the front desk to ask if they had any extra hockey sticks that they could use. She came back after a few moments, carrying three hockey sticks and one goalie stick and glove. "Sorry Syd, you have to sit this one out."

"But I want to play," he stated in a loud, whiny tone, stomping his skate onto the ground.

"Stop whinging!" Riley snapped. "You can play later."

"I don't know. I don't feel comfortable hitting a girl." Carlos said slowly. Rhuben snorted as she pulled on the goalie glove.

"I've been hit before if you've forgotten." She stated and started to skate backwards. "So don't worry about it. I'm goalie, Riley is forward, and Patrick and Noah are the enforcers." She added with a smirk.

"Are you sure about this?" Kendall asked Riley cautiously as the two skated up to the center of the ice, waiting for the signal to go. Riley nodded wordlessly in reply. Kendall shrugged and the two bent down towards the puck, getting ready to go.

Carlos watched in amazement as Sydney signaled for the game to start and Riley quickly took the puck from Kendall, shooting it back to Patrick. He didn't know that she could move so fast. Smiling to himself, Carlos let out a loud scream as he charged across the ice and knocked Patrick into the boards. Noah slid by, crashing into Carlos and took the puck for himself. He drove towards the net, easily by passing James and took a shot at Logan, getting a goal.

* * *

"Ow, I forgot that playing hockey could hurt that much" Rhuben winced as she looked at the bruise that was forming on her hip. "That bruise is going to be there for a while."

"A bit of ice and rest and you'll be fine," Logan replied as he placed a hand on Rhuben's shoulder and smiled at her. She smiled back and Logan held that smile for a second too long before clearing his throat and moving away.

Big Time Rush had eventually won the hockey game, even though they all had to admit that the Jacksons were better than they thought they would be. And because they won, Carlos suggested that it goes to their overall score of their competition, making the score 4 to 2.

"So, Carlos," Patrick jumped onto Carlos' back, almost knocking him over. "What kind of food can we expect to be eating tonight? And how much of it?"

"Well, if you're anything like me," Carlos laughed in reply and almost doubled over as Noah jumped onto his back, adding onto the weight that he was carrying. "Then you're going to be eating a lot of good food. Trust me, my mom likes to cook for people and she's glad to be able to meet you guys." He smiled as he looked around at his friends. Sydney, Katie and James were talking to each other about something. Logan and Rhuben were talking quietly about something, their arms brushing against each other. Carlos looked behind him and smirked when he saw Riley and Kendall talking and walking really close to each other, but looking as if they hadn't noticed it. "So, have you guys noticed that Kendall and Riley seem to be getting along really well?"

"Yeah, we ask her about it but she says for us to mid our own business, which is just code saying that she likes him but won't admit it." Noah replied and Carlos could practically see him roll his eyes. "It happens every time."

"I bet." Carlos laughed and then stopped and watched as a snow plow moved down the street, pushing snow off to the sides of the road.

It was then that he had the idea of a new stunt to pull. Having a snow plow push you down the street with the tool at the front. Maybe they could have a contest to see how far-"

"Don't even think about it!" Logan's voice cut through his thoughts.

Oh well.

DarkElements – 4

Big Time Rush - 2

* * *

**A/N: And here's the next chapter. The next one is centered on Logan and its going to show a bit more of his past with Riley and Rhuben and his feelings for the latter. Because you know in some cases the best couple starts out as best friends. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. The next chapter will either be up later tonight or early tomorrow. I'm going to focus on this a little bit more than Big Time Adventure for the next few days. **

**Instead of making Big Time Minnesota 7 parts, I'm making it 4 parts to go through each guy. I think this story is going to end in 30 chapters, so there's about six left in this story. But there is a sequel. Yes, you heard right, there is going to be a sequel. Stay on the lookout. **

**Oh and did you guys see the commercial for the 'Big Time Rush Movie' Big Time Concert? I've been waiting forever for it.**

**-Riley**


	25. Big Time Minnesota Pt4

**.:Chapter Twenty Five – Big Time Minnesota Pt.4:.**

**

* * *

****A/N: For you guys, this chapter has a lot of Lella in it (LoganxRhuben)**

"Ugh, remind me to tell Carlos, to tell his mom to lay off the spices." Logan groaned as he grabbed onto his stomach, feeling a little nauseous. Rhuben snorted as she turned her camera away from the balcony of the hotel suite. He let out a gurgling groan this time and flopped down onto the couch.

"Is your stomach upsetting you still?" Rhuben asked as she quickly took a picture of Logan before setting her camera down onto the lamp table, closing the door and the curtain to the balcony as she did so. "Well, if Riley didn't go out with the guys, then she would have been able to figure out what is wrong, exactly."

Today Ronan wanted to be taken around St. Paul to see the sights, so Mrs. Knight offered to take them, before Kendall, James, Katie, and Carlos wanted to tag along. Logan would have gone too if his stomach wasn't really upset. Julius, Riley, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney went too, but Rhuben decided not to, saying that she wanted to take some pictures and it would take too long if they had to stop at every single little sight to see. She was getting ready to the leave the hotel suite when Logan appeared at the door, claiming that he was bored and heard that she was staying at the hotel.

"Yeah, yeah," Logan replied, smiling a little bit when he remembered when he and Riley used to share the dream of being doctors, and then co-owning their own doctor's office. But that was before they had moved away. He changed the subject. "Since when did you wear glasses?" he asked, noticing the frames on her face.

"Since I was twelve and I couldn't see a thing," Rhuben replied and disappeared into her bedroom. "But I hated them and got contacts, Riley too. We wear glasses only if we're not going anywhere." She came back out of the room holding a DVD box. "Patrick has the worst eyesight out of us, and he doesn't care whether or not he wears glasses or contacts as long as it makes him look stylish."

"Your brother is kind of acting like James." Logan admitted as Rhuben sat down at the other end of the couch. She lifted herself up to pull her wallet out of her back pocket before sitting down again. She rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about it," she replied and watched in amusement as Logan took her wallet and started to go through it. "What are you doing?"

"Going through your wallet, what does it look like?" Logan asked in reply as he briefly glanced over at her before starting to laugh. "Oh my gosh, you still have this picture?" he turned the small piece of paper around to show a picture of him, Rhuben, and Riley a few days before they had left Texas to go to California. All three of them were squeezed onto a swing, on their stomachs, smiling at the camera.

"Why wouldn't I still have it?" Rhuben snorted as she rolled her eyes and then smiled teasingly. "It reminds me of how we met."

"Geez, don't remind me." Logan groaned.

"Too late," Rhuben replied and looked towards the ceiling with a dreamy expression on her face. "I've already remembered."

"What are you doing?" Logan snorted at her.

"Shh!" she put a finger to her lips. "I'm acting like you guys while I'm trying to see my memory! Don't ruin it!"

_8 year old Logan Mitchell was sitting on a swing, minding his own business and looking at his Pokémon cards when they were suddenly knocked out of his hand. Lower lip trembling, he looked up to see the playground bully, Eric Snyder, standing in front of him, holding onto a few of his Pokemon cards._

"_Give them back!" Logan cried as he reached for them. "You're getting them all dirty!" Eric pulled the cards away and laughed tauntingly as Logan jumped up and down, trying to get it."Give it!" Eric reached out and shoved Logan against the chest, causing him to stumble back and fall onto the ground, his lips trembling harder._

"_Aww, is wittle Wogan Mitchell gonna cry?" Eric started to laugh harder as a tear slid down Logan's cheek._

"_What's going on?" Logan and Eric looked up to see two girls walking towards them. They both had shoulder length black hair and bright blue eyes. One was wearing purple overalls and a white t-shirt and the other one was wearing red overalls and a red t-shirt. The one in purple spoke up again. "What are you doing to this kid? Give him his cards back!"_

"_Oh yeah, why don't you make me!" Eric replied as he turned to face the two girls. "I'm not afraid to hit a couple of girls."_

"_I bet you're afraid to get kissed though." The girl in red overalls replied as she moved forward, pursing her lips._

"_Ew! Cooties!" Eric cried and threw the cards to the ground before running away._

"_Are you ok, kid?" the girl in purple asked as she helped Logan to his feet._

"_Yeah, I'm fine." He replied as he brushed off his clothes. "My clothes are all dirty though."_

"_You're a kid, you're supposed to get dirty." The girl in red replied and picked the cards up off the ground. "No way! Rhu, he has the Shiny Charizard!" her gasp grew wider. "AND a holographic Eevee. I don't have one of those!"_

"_I'm Rhuben Jackson by the way, and this is my twin sister Riley." Rhuben greeted and the two gave small waves. "We're new here and slightly more normal than this." They both broke out into identical grins._

"_I can tell," Logan replied and smiled. "You guys are from Australia, and if I had to guess, you're from Sydney. I can tell from the way that you guys have the inflection on your 'o's. Do people mistake your for being British a lot? Or is it that they just-"_

"_We were looking for your name, not our life story." Rhuben replied with a blank blink._

"_I'm Logan Mitchell." Logan replied and gave a smile. "It's nice to meet both of you."_

"_Nice to meet you two," Riley agreed and walked over to Logan, giving him back his Pokémon cards. "we like Pokémon too, it's like, one of our favorite games."_

"_I didn't think girls like Pokémon." Logan stated as he looked at the two curiously. "But I'm assuming that you're not normal girls."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Rhuben demanded, sounding as if she was offended. Logan blinked as he shoved his Pokémon cards into his pockets and took a step back, slightly afraid._

"_I didn't mean anything by it," he replied innocently. "Honest."_

_Riley shrugged and climbed up onto a swing, the only other one that was open and Rhuben squeezed on behind her and the two of them wildly kicked their legs back and forth to try and get moving. Logan laughed and moved behind them, grabbed the chains of the swing, took a step back, and pushed them forward. He noticed a strange circular burn mark on the back of their necks but didn't say anything._

"_So, where did you move to?" he asked as he continued to push them until they were high enough to swing themselves before getting on his own swing. "I mean, what house did you move in?"_

"_This empty Victorian style one on Division Street." Riley replied._

"_The one that has the purple shutters?" Logan questioned and then beamed when Rhuben made a sound of agreement. "Cool, I live next door!"_

"_Cool."_

"And it _was _nice to meet you, until you pushed me off the swing!" Logan stated as he glared pointedly at Rhuben, who merely shrugged in reply. "Why were you thinking about that?" he added gently.

"Because it was probably only one of the few moments in my life where I didn't have to worry about my dad," Rhuben replied and made a face. "At least from what I can remember. I don't know, I kind of blocked out everything from being nine on back." She sat up and grabbed the DVD box and motioned it towards the TV. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"It better not be a chick-flick, Bell-Bell." Logan warned.

"It's not, Logie-Bear." Rhuben replied as she raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you known me to watch a chick-flick? They bore me to death." She added as she made a fake gagging sound, along with pretending to stick her finger down her throat.

"Logie-Bear, Bell-Bell," Logan mused to himself. "What nickname was it that I gave Riley?" he asked as she got off the couch to put in the DVD.

"Landy, I think." Rhuben replied as she looked at the ceiling in through. "Obviously short for Rilandon." She turned around, holding onto the remote and stopped when she noticed Logan looking at her oddly. "What?" she asked as she went back to the couch.

"Hm?" Logan blinked and looked over at her, as if he didn't realize that she was sitting there. "What?"

"You were looking at me funny." Rhuben replied, tilting her head to the side. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking." Logan replied.

"About what?"

"Nothing," Logan shoved his hand into his pocket when he felt his cell phone start to vibrate and pulled it out to see that James was calling him. No doubt it was because he was trying to settle some sort of argument that he and Carlos were having, usually about whether or not something was real or not. "I'll be right back." He announced before going into the guys' bedroom. "What?" he asked as he answered the phone. "What do you need me to prove is real now."

"Absolutely nothing," James replied and Logan could hear something suspicious in his voice. He could practically see the big grin on his face. "So, how are you and Rhuben getting along?"

"Ok, what are you getting at?" Logan asked, not really in the mood for his games.

"Dude, you two are in a hotel suite, _alone."_ James replied, putting the emphasis on the word. Logan rolled his eyes, already knowing what his friend was getting at. "Oh come on, you can't tell me that you haven't done-"

"Bye, James." Logan interrupted and closed his cell phone, sliding it back into his pocket.

He left the bedroom and stopped as he looked at Rhuben from her profile. He studied her as she watched the movie, so engrossed in it that her bottom jaw had fallen open partly. It was hard to believe that she had gotten abused only six months before, as he didn't really see instances of her reverting back to the past in a while. There weren't any more bruises and the only scar that he could see was the first one that he had noticed when he met her. One in her eyebrow, he still wasn't sure where she had gotten it from. Logan couldn't help but smile when he saw Rhuben's lips curl into a smile at a funny part of the movie.

He suddenly blinked, running his hand over his face.

He let out a small curse, which is very unlike him, when he had realized what was going on.

He had fallen for his best friend.

* * *

"You guys should have gone sightseeing with us, it was really fun." Sydney stated as he peeled off his winter jacket, carelessly tossing it to the floor before jumping onto Rhuben's lap to give her a hug.

"Nah, I was too busy taking pictures." Rhuben replied and gave him a hug. "Logan here was sick from Carlos' mom's food." She tickled him in the ribs and Sydney burst out laughing, the dimples in his cheeks deepening.

"You sure it was the food?" Katie replied and laughed a little bit as Kendall rolled his eyes and shoved her away.

"Hey, don't knock my mom's cooking." Carlos warned as he dropped to the floor, stretching out on the soft carpet.

"Don't worry, Carlitos," Riley sat next to him on the ground, lying out on her stomach and resting her head on her arms. "It was really good." She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Really, really, good. Best food I've ever had."

"That's because you're not counting your own." Patrick added as he sat down onto Riley's lower back, causing her to let out a grunt of pain. "Hey, do you guys want to play BS?" he asked as he grabbed a deck of cards.

"Yeah, I love that game!" James declared as he made room on the coffee table. "I'm awesome when it comes to making a poker face."

"Yeah, if you think grinning from ear to ear and practically jumping up and down is a poker face." Kendall replied with a raised eyebrow as he ignored Sydney's and Carlos' loud singing of Poker Face by Lady Gaga. Rhuben and Logan got off of the couch and everybody crowded around the table to play.

The game went on for about ten minutes without a problem until Noah put down five cards and said 'five fours' and then Katie put down her hand saying she had three fives.

"NO! DON'T!" Patrick shouted and then whimpered when he saw that he was too late. "There's no way that Noah have five fours." He stomped his foot. "I was going to BS him."

"Yeah, well, at least you don't have, like, the whole deck in your hands." Riley grumbled in reply as Kendall started to put down his hand. "Take it back" she stated before he could even say anything. Kendall let out a curse and took the cards back, knowing that Riley held them in her hands.

As they went around the circle more and more times, the shouts of frustration and triumph grew louder and louder until they were arguing about the rules of the game and whether or not they were cheating. Logan couldn't help but smile.

It just showed him that things weren't going to change anytime soon.

And he liked it that way.

'_Especially since I don't know how Rhuben feels about me_' Logan thought to himself as he looked over at his friend, who was laughing at Sydney for getting a huge handful of cards. '_She's never go for a math nerd. So there's not even a reason to try._' He frowned.

"Logie, you ok?" James asked as he looked over at him.

"Yeah, I was just wondering which card it was that I had to put down." Logan replied with a half smile. He looked over at Rhuben again and his smile grew wider. '_But I'm glad that she's at least my friend_. _Although, no one said that things had to stay the same_'

* * *

**A/N: So, here's the next chapter. I hope that you guys liked the little flashback that was in it. I liked it a lot. This story is going to end in five chapters, because I didn't want to draw it out longer than needed, but there is a sequel on the way and its going to be called 'Here and Now' or 'Don't Stop Believing' you can choose. I hope you guys are still liking it the next chapter will either be up later today or tomorrow night.**

**-Riley**


	26. Big Time Birthday

**.:Chapter Twenty Six – Big Time Birthday:.**

**

* * *

**After three more days of being in Minnesota, Big Time Rush, the Jacksons, Ronan, Katie, and Mrs. Knight packed up their stuff and was on a plane back to LA first thing in the morning. They all experienced a bit of jet lag when they got back and were really slow in getting back to what they were supposed to be doing. Gustavo didn't really like that much, as he was being an even bigger ass to the guys than usual. Ronan gave time for the Jacksons to get adjusted to the fact that Julius had gone back to Australia to go back to college. It was hard for them to watching him leave, like it was every time. (Patrick and Noah had even tried to hide in his suitcases so they could go along with him.)

But now they were back to work, working on a CD that was filled with one of them being the lead singer and the rest of them being backup vocals. It was a CD that Patrick described as "One that tells a lot of truth about who we are individually. And a CD that shows what we've been through. So if you're a fan of our darker music, you're going to like this CD."

But Katie was excited to be home for an entirely different reason. One day Katie woke up with a big smile on her face. And the only reason that was, was because today is a day that every girl waits for twelve years of her life.

Her thirteenth birthday.

She had been waiting on it for forever, just to prove to people that she wasn't a kid anymore and that she could do more than they gave her credit for. Plus, she was looking to get some good stuff for her birthday this year, teenage stuff, instead of all of those journals and diaries and bracelets and stuff that she got that was decked out in pink. She was a girl that hated pink, she found pink to be a sign of a young, wimpy girl.

And she was anything but wimpy.

Dressing in a simple purple t-shirt and white capris, she practically skipped out of the room that she and her mother shared, to see that her brother and his friends were already eating breakfast. Kendall was the first to notice her and gave her a big smile.

"Happy Birthday, Katie." Kendall got up from his chair and gave his sister a big hug as Logan, James, and Carlos repeated the sentiment to her. "How does it feel to be 13?" he sat back down and went to back to his breakfast.

"I'll let you know as soon as it hits 12:00" Katie replied, as she was born on in the afternoon. She looked around, eyebrows knitted together. "Where's mom?"

"I don't know," Kendall replied with a shrug. "She got up and left about an hour before we got up." They all looked up as there was a brief knock on the door. Before anyone could get it, the door swung open and Riley and Rhuben walked in casually, as if they lived in the apartment themselves.

"Hey Katie, are you ready to go?" Rhuben asked as she brushed her hair out of her face.

"Where are we going?" Katie asked in confusion.

"We're kidnapping you for the day," Riley replied and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Taking you to the mall, getting you ice cream, stuff like that." She listed off. "Go get your bag, we'll wait here." Katie smiled before going off and Riley crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her head to look at Kendall.

"You owe me for this too." She stated simply.

"I know I do," Kendall replied with a relieved grin. "You guys should try and find a way to stay out for the whole afternoon; we have to get the Palm Woods ready." He added as he turned to make sure that Katie was still in her room and not listening to them.

"How do you propose we do that?" Rhuben asked as she wrinkled her nose. "Block the mall exists?"

"That's a good idea!" James declared as he jumped to his feet. "Can I go too? I would _love _to be in the mall all day." He got to his feet and dove onto Riley's and Rhuben's legs and started to plead. "Please, please, please, take me with you."

Rhuben sighed heavily and looked up at the guys with raised eyebrows and Carlos and Logan quickly jumped out of their seats and lifted James up off of their legs just as Katie came back out of her room, a large brown and white bag over her arm. She took one look at the guys and shook her head.

"I don't even want to know." She muttered to herself before being led out of the apartment.

"Ok, now that she's gone, we can get this party planning started." Kendall stated as he threw his bowl into the sink and grabbed a clipboard from behind a potted plant. "What we need to do is get entertainment, a lot of food, music, balloons and decorations, party favors-"

"And a cake, you can't forget cake." Carlos butted in, grinning at the thought. "Can you make it a chocolate cake?"

"Fine, whatever." Kendall replied, looking distracted. He looked up at his friends. "What can we get for entertainment? How about a clown?"

"Unless you want Riley and Rhuben to run from the room screaming in terror, I suggest you don't get a clown." Logan commented as he and James and Carlos crowded around Kendall to look at the list. "Besides, Katie wants to be seen as a grown up right? A clown doesn't say grown up."

"What says grown up to you then?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't know something like…." Logan smiled smugly as an idea popped into his head. "A fortune teller. Everybody loves the fortunes in their fortune cookies. So why not have a real fortune teller." He suggested. Kendall looked at the ceiling in thought and slowly nodded.

"Good idea Logie," Kendall agreed. "Do you mind getting that done for me?"

"Not at all K-Dawg." Logan replied with a single nod.

"Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, can I get the cake?" Carlos asked as he raised his hand in the air, as if he was going to school. Kendall hesitated as he looked at his helmet clad friend, not sure if it was a good idea. "Oh come on Kendall, I _swear_ I'll be careful. Please? Please? Puh-lease?"

"Fine, just don't beg me anymore," Kendall stated as he rolled his eyes. "You're starting to sound like James and that's a little bit creepy." He turned to James. "James, you can get the music and food, right?"

"I don't think the food thing is a good idea," Logan cut in. "He'll probably just get food that tastes horrible but is good for your complexion."

"Well help out," Patrick stated as he, Noah, and Sydney strolled into the apartment. "Rhu-Rhu caught us on the way here and said that you're probably going to ruin the whole thing without even realizing it and wanted us to stop you."

"Well, I wouldn't have said that," Noah stated as he rolled his eyes. "But I do think that's what will happen? What can we do to help?"

"Have you ever thrown a party before?" Kendall asked as he turned to them. Sydney chuckled and smiled brilliantly as the three Jackson boys looked at each other smugly.

"We throw beach parties all the time back at Australia," he explained, his big eyes shining with a look of mischievousness. That was an understatement, there were parties almost every night back home in Australia because of the warm weather and a big desire to hang out with friends. "So we know a thing or two about them." He turned to Kendall. "This is a birthday party for Katie right?" he continued when Kendall nodded in affirmation. "Then leave the food and drinks to us."

"Great," Kendall smiled. "That means that James and I are going to get the party favors, decorations, and wrapping our gifts." He tossed the clipboard over his shoulder, not really caring where it landed, and smiled at his friends. "Let's get this party started."

"Wait a second," Patrick broke into the conversation. "Why doesn't your mom just wrap the gifts for you?" he tilted his head to the side.

"Because she went out to make sure that Katie's surprise gift got here," Kendall explained patiently. "She's been planning this for months and wouldn't even tell me what it is." He turned to give his friends a pep-talk. "Ok guys, this party needs to be really great, because it's a really special one for my sister."

"Say no more, dude." Carlos patted his friend on the shoulder. "You can count on us."

"Besides," Patrick gave an impish grin. "What could go wrong?"

"Have you noticed that every time Patrick says that something goes wrong?" Noah whispered to Sydney, who thought for a second and nodded in reply. "Good. I thought it was just me."

As his friends left, Kendall ran his fingers through his hair and started to pace back and forth, silently worrying and hoping that everything would go right. He got nervous about this every year, as he had made a promise to himself and to Katie that he would always make sure that she had a great birthday. Every now and then around their birthdays Kendall knew that Katie (along with himself) thought about their father and what he could have been doing. And that made them depressed. It was one birthday when Katie was five when she was crying that their dad didn't send her a card or give her phone call. Kendall had found her and comforted her saying that he would give her the best birthday every year.

And now that they were in LA, the possibilities for it were endless.

* * *

"Would you _please_ get out of the kart?" Noah demanded his thick Australian accent showing in his dialect. He glared at Patrick and Sydney, who were smiling at him from the basket of the shopping kart among the bottles of soda and bags of chips. "You're too heavy."

"I'm not too heavy," Patrick replied, looking offended. "I weigh less than you." Noah sighed and lightly smacked the side of the kart before he placed his hands on his hips. The three of them had just finished shopping and the whole way Patrick insisted that he was able to sit in the kart because it was unfair that Sydney was able to.

"Wow, putting your hands on your hips," Sydney's lips curled into a smile as he got in on the jokes. He pretended to shake in fear. "I'm really scared." He laughed and he and Patrick high-fived, much to Noah's irritation.

Noah let out a breath of annoyance and grabbed onto the handles of the kart again, deciding just to give up. "Do you always act like you're five?"

"Only when we're trying to piss you off," Patrick replied truthfully and then cried out in pain when Noah flicked him on the back of the ear. Noah went to the checkout line and got in behind a long line, although it was shorter than some of the other registers. Patrick was reading the ingredients on a bottle of soda when the hairs on the back of his neck started to prickle. "Is it just me or do you have the feeling that you're being watched?" he asked without looking up.

"It's not just you." Sydney replied as he stared straight ahead.

It was something that they had to learn to detect whenever they went into crowded places. When Robert was still around, there were times where he had them shoplift things for them, and he had trained them in the ways of knowing whether or not someone was watching them. If someone was watching you waited until that feeling went away so you could grab the item that you wanted to take. If you didn't have that feeling, then you had better take the item and haul your butt out of the store. Usually Robert would wait in the car and send Sydney in along with one of his brothers or sisters because no one would think that a small, cute boy like him would want to steal something. Needless to say it had gotten them a lot of stuff along the way.

"Do those boys look familiar to you?" a lady asked behind them. Noah turned his head slightly and saw two women standing together staring at the three of them. He turned his head back around and stared straight forward, acting as if he didn't hear anything they were saying, although he could hear it all.

"Yes, I think they're part of that band, you know the one that my daughters love." The second women replied. "The LightElements or something like that."

'_It's __Dark__Elements you twit_' Noah thought to himself, his upper lip curling in annoyance.

"Yeah, their father had stolen a song, and then was recently found to be abusing his children. The poor things."

"Yeah, I know. I feel so bad for them. No one should go through that, especially when they're that young."

Noah tuned out from the rest of the conversation and kept his cool until their food was bagged and paid for. It wasn't until they were walking back to the Palm Woods that Noah shoved the bags of food into Patrick's arms and yelled out a curse, kicking a random trashcan. Sydney gasped quietly, looking sort of hurt. He hated it whenever his brothers were mad, especially if they were mad at someone else and he couldn't do anything about it. To make matters worse, he had never heard Noah curse before. So he must have been really upset.

"I know," Patrick stated simply as he transferred the bags to his right arm before putting his left arm around his brother. "It sucks when people talk about us as if we can't hear them. But we have a good life now, so just ignore them."

"Right," Noah murmured and rested his head on Patrick's shoulder and allowed himself to be led back to the Palm Woods.

* * *

"Kendall, can I take a break?" James asked as he sank to the floor, breathing heavily. "I've been blowing up balloons for an hour." Kendall looked away from the streamer that he was taping to the wall around the Palm Woods pool and looked at James as if he were stupid. "What?" James questioned.

"I told you that you didn't have to blow up balloons, we had a pump." Kendall replied and pointed. James looked over in the direction that Kendall was pointing and glared, giving Kendall the finger before lying down on the ground, letting go of the half blown balloon that was in his hand.

"Hey, we got some more decorations." Jo called as she, Camille, and Stephanie walked into the Palm Woods pool. Kendall called a muffled 'thanks' as he held a tape dispenser in his mouth. "So, how did you convince Bitters to let you guys have Katie's birthday party here?"

"A lot of negotiating," Kendall replied as he jumped to the ground. "And a promise that I would go out with his daughter." He shrugged. "Apparently she's wanted to go out with a guy from Big Time Rush for a long, long time." He jerked his head to the side so his bangs would fall out of his face. "But he owes me a favor in return."

"Always a smooth talker I see." Camille commented as she shook her head, chuckling a little bit. "What else do we need?"

"Um, some music," Kendall replied and then turned to face them completely, looking as if he had seen them for the first time. "Hey, you guys are girls."

"Uh, yeah we are, Kendall." Stephanie replied pointedly. "And to think it only took us sixteen years to figure that out for ourselves." Kendall rolled his eyes and laughed a little bit as he shook his head. She grinned. "What do you need?"

"Well, for one, I would like you to go check on Carlos and the cake." Kendall replied as he pointed at Stephanie. "Because you know how he can get sometimes."

"Sure thing," Stephanie smiled and nodded in reply.

"Jo and Camille, since you're obviously girls and you know what girls like, could you go and find some music that you think that Katie would like to listen to for her party." Kendall continued as he looked around. "Other than that James and I are going to finish up here and then go and wrap our presents. Do you want us to wrap yours too?"

"No, I think that we can manage." Jo replied teasingly. "We'll see you guys later." She and Camille started to walk away and she quickly turned back around. "Oh, wait, when does the party start?"

Kendall looked at his watch, it was 11:00 and there was still a lot of work to get done. "Uh, the party starts at 5."

"Ok, we'll see you later."

Kendall went back to work as James got off of the ground, till breathing heavily. He had a thoughtful look on his face and Kendall stopped and waited, wondering what his well groomed friend was going to say. "Uh, Kendall. Did you ever tell Gustavo that were weren't going to be in the studio today?"

"No," Kendall replied after a fake second of thought. "Excuse me, but I think this a little bit more important."

"I didn't say it was." James replied, looking a little hurt that his friend had just snapped at him, even after all of the work that he was helping him with. Kendall immediately noticed the look and sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm sorry, dude, I'm just a little stressed out." Kendall apologized. James smiled and slapped his friend on the back.

"It's alright," James replied and his grin grew wider. "But you owe me for this. I'll just put it on your tab."

"Deal."

* * *

Carlos licked his lips as he pressed his face up against the glass display case, fogging it with his breath as he looked at the many cakes there were to choose from. The worker behind the counter was drumming the counter top, as a line formed behind Carlos.

"Come on, I don't have all day," the worker suddenly cried, getting Carlos' attention. "And there's a line starting to form. Other people need their cakes you know."

"Ok, I'd like that premade chocolate cake." Carlos declared as he pointed to one that was covered in white frosting and had purple flowers on it. "And could you decorate it with lots of brightly colored swirls of cake decorations. Oh and then write Happy Birthday, Katie."

The worker raised an eyebrow, but nodded in reply and took the cake that Carlos had pointed to and walked it to the back of the bakery. The bell over the door jingled and Carlos turned around and grinned when he saw Stephanie step into the store.

"Hey Steph, how's it going?" Carlos asked as he waved her over. She smiled warmly; always happy to see him.

"Not bad, Kendall sent me over to see if you needed help with the cake." Stephanie replied as she looked at the ones that were in the display case. "So, here I am."

"Cool." Carlos beamed in reply. "I'm just waiting for the decorator to finish and then we can take it back to the Palm Woods."

The two fell into an awkward silence, rocking back and forth and occasionally looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes. The two had an obvious attraction to each other, but they hadn't gone on a date yet. But they were comfortable around each other and she _had _called him hot and cute when they first met.

'_Stephanie's so cool_' Carlos thought to himself with a grin. '_I don't know what she sees in me, I'm just a guy that is really weird and always manages to screw everything up. But she still likes me. Me! This is so awesome!_'

"So, I was thinking," he stated breaking the silence. "Do you want to be my date for Katie's party?" he continued babbling, not giving Stephanie a chance to respond. "I mean, it's a party and usually when there are parties people go as dates. But if you don't want to go as dates we can just go as friends. I mean friends can go to parties together right?"

Stephanie opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off as the decorator came back with the cake in a box. The top was open so Carlos took the chance to check on the cake. Everything was in order. He grinned, paid the man, and motioned for Stephanie to open the door so they could leave the bakery.

"Ok, so now we just have to get this back to the Palm Woods." Carlos stated and then shifted back and forth as he tried to look over the box that he was holding. "And now I can't see."

"Don't worry, Carlos." Stephanie gently placed her hand on his arm and smiled warmly. "I'll lead you back there safely."

"Thanks, Stephanie."

"No Problem."

* * *

"Ok, I got the fortune teller," Logan stated as he walked back in to Apartment 2J. "Now all we need to do is," he paused. "What the heck happened?" he demanded as he looked around at all of the shredded paper and tape that was lying around.

"We got a little carried away when it came to wrapping gifts?" Kendall replied in a form of a question as he stepped away from James, who was wrapped from head to toe in blue wrapping paper. The pile of presents that were on the table were untouched.

"What happened?" Patrick asked as he, Noah, and Sydney walked into the room.

"Ooh! Christmas bows!" Sydney cried as he grabbed a blue bow and stuck it to his head. He paused. "Why do you have Christmas decoration?"

"It's only the bows, we re-use them for presents." Kendall explained before turning to Logan. "Did you say you got the fortune teller?"

"Yes, I did." He replied and beamed.

"So why did it take you hours to get it here?" Kendall wasn't sure how finding someone could take three hours. The party was going to start soon. Logan's smiled faded.

"Yeah, let's just say that I'm not going to be around this weekend." He replied. "But I got a free fortune out of it. Apparently I'm going to fall in love with someone I least expect."

"Yeah, Rhu-Rhu." Patrick commented and rolled his eyes, although a smile was on his face, when Logan looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I may wear glasses," he pushed the object up his nose. "But I'm not _blind_. Besides, I've spent a long time watching whenever a guy has liked Ri-Ri or Rhu-Rhu and they always have this 'look' in their eye. And you always have it when you look at her."

"Changing the subject," Logan turned back to James and started to tear him out of the gift wrap. "We should finish setting up; everybody is going to be here soon." He cleared his throat. "By the way, Carlos and Stephanie are back with the cake, Jo and Camille have got the music and they're not setting up a sound system. And Landon just called and said that they're on their way back."

"Landon?" Kendall repeated.

"Oh, Ri-Ri's full name is Rilandon," Noah explained, flicking his head so his long fringe moved out of his face. "Logan calls her Landon for short." The corners of his lips twitched. "But instead of talking about that, we should finish setting up. Like, right now."

Kendall looked at his watch and noticed that his friend was right. Time had really flown by that day. "Gosh." He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a huge breath. "Ok, you three take these party favors, and go down and help the girls, and Logan and I will tear James out of this and finish wrapping gifts." He looked at his watch again. "I think mom should be here soon."

"Got it." Patrick and Noah saluted and the three left the room, after grabbing the party favors.

Kendall and James quickly tore the wrapping off of James and rushed to finish wrapping Katie's presents. Kendall got a call from his mom, saying that she was down in the lobby as soon as they were done, and they started the transfer of all of the gifts down to the Palm Woods pool. All of the Palm Woods staff were invited, as Katie had made some friends with them, and so was everybody from the Palm Woods school.

When Kendall got to the lobby (after going through the elevator to make sure that they didn't drop anything) he saw why his mom was gone all day. She had gone to the airport and picked up a few of Katie's friends from back in Minnesota. The three girls waved towards Kendall and he gave a shy smiled in reply, as he knew that they all had crushes on him. (But they were too young.)

"Wow, mom, I didn't think that this was the surprise." He said as he let himself get kissed by his mother before smiling at Sarah, Lilly, and Melissa, Katie's best friends.

"Well, it's her first birthday away from home so I figured that we'd go all out and make it really special." Mrs. Knight replied and pointed the three girls to the Palm Woods pool. "Is she here yet?"

"No, but according to Logan, they're going to be here really soon." Kendall replied. He turned to James and placed the presents that were in his arms on top of his. "Go put these up." As James and Logan walked away, Kendall turned to his mom. "Do you think that Katie is going to like this?"

"As long as you made it happen, Kendall," Mrs. Knight kissed her son again. "She's going to love it. I love you, Kendall."

"I love you, too, mom." Kendall replied with a smile.

* * *

"So, Katie did you have fun?" Riley asked as she and Rhuben slowly walked with Katie back to the Palm Woods.

The sun had started to set, so that meant that it was perfect time for them to be going back to the party. It could possibly take a few minutes longer as they were holding onto a lot of shopping bags. They had spent the whole day shopping and eating ice cream. Every time Katie said that she was ready to go home, Riley or Rhuben would point out another store and push her inside before she even got a chance to object to it. Normally Katie would never think that shopping was fun, but with her two friends it was better than she thought. Especially when someone else was paying for her.

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun." Katie replied with a bright smile. "More than I thought I would." She held the bags up and looked at them, feeling kid of guilty. "But you didn't have to buy all of this stuff for me."

"Hey, Ronan gave us a credit card for a reason," Rhuben replied from Katie's other side. "And if she didn't see this coming, that's his own fault." She rolled her eyes. "Although I'm sure that we're going to be paying a lot for this. Literally."

"Thank You." Katie sighed dramatically and beamed as they arrived back at the Palm Woods. "My feet were killing me. If the mall was bigger, I'd have to use a bike to get through it to keep my feet from getting sore."

"There's an idea." Riley laughed in reply as they entered the Palm Woods and set their bags by the door. "Oh, we have another surprise for you." She said and looked over at Rhuben, who nodded and placed her hand over Katie's eyes before the two of them led Katie to the Palm Woods pool. Rhuben looked at Riley, who nodded, and she pulled her hand away.

"SURPRISE! Happy Birthday, Katie!"

Katie gasped in shocked as she looked around the Palm Woods. All of her friends were there, she could see a cake sitting in the corner of the room on a table that had a pile of presents. There was really cool decorations, good music, and even a fortune teller.

"Katie! Katie!"

Katie looked up and let out an involuntary scream when she saw her three friends from LA running towards her. "Sarah! Melissa! Lilly!" she gave all of them huge hugs. "I can't believe it! I can believe you guys are here!"

"Yeah, its your mom's present to you," Sarah replied as sh grinned at her friend. "But Kendall was the one that made this whole party possible." Katie looked around and saw her brother and his friends and the Jacksons standing by the cake, congratulating each other on a job well done. "I'll be right back, guys." Katie hurried around the pool towards her friends, smiling the whole way.

"Happy Birthday, little sis." Kendall said when he noticed her and laughed as Katie wrapped her arms around his stomach in a huge hug. Kendall laughed and gave her a big hug back. "So I'm guessing you like the party?"

"Its _awesome_ bro," Katie replied, her eyes wide. "Thanks so much!"

"Hey, you can peg it all on me, all of these guys helped too." Kendall said as he motioned to his friends and the Jacksons.

"Thanks guys." She grinned, giving each of them a hug. "It means a lot to me." She grabbed onto Patrick's and Noah's arms. "C'mon, I want to introduce you guys to me friends." She dragged them off, with Sydney tagging along, before they could reply.

"Wow, Logie, who knew that you could through such a good party." Rhuben joked as she punched her friend on the arm, looking around as everybody went off to dance or to talk to someone. She grinned when she saw Carlos and Stephanie dancing together. Well, Stephanie was dancing. Carlos was flailing spastically. "They make such a cute couple."

"Rhuben Jackson using the word 'cute' in a sentence?" Logan joked. "I never thought I'd see the day." He laughed as Rhuben punched him again and then grabbed the spot, wincing in pain when Rhuben turned away.

'_Maybe I should ask her to dance_' he thought to himself as he turned back to her, wiping off his sweaty palms on the side of his legs. '_It's not that hard and we danced before_' he swallowed thickly. '_So why is it so hard to ask now_?'

"Uh, Bella?" he called, to get her attention. He continued when Rhuben turned to look at him. "I was wondering …uh, if you wanted to…uh," he stammered, trying to get the words out. "I was wondering-"

"What?" Rhuben shouted and moved closer. "I can't hear you."

Logan licked his lips and tried again. "I was wondering if you wanted to-"

"Rhu," James appeared out of nowhere and grabbed onto her arm. "Come dance with me!" he dragged Rhuben out onto the dance floor before Logan could finish what he was saying. He closed his mouth, feeling a little dejected, before Camille grabbed onto his arm and forced him out onto the dance floor.

He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Katie, Sarah, Melissa, Lilly, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney pogoing to the beat of a techno song that was playing overhead.

"Nice job, Kendall." Riley stated as she patted him on the back, causing him to jump as she was just dancing with Jo. He turned and smiled down at her as she tilted her head to the side. "I'd hate to think how you'd try to top this next year."

"I don't even want to think about that right now," Kendall replied with a laugh as he shook his head wearily. "I'm exhausted just from this."

"Well, I hope you're not too exhausted." Riley replied with a half smile as she poked him in the stomach. "You have to dance with me at least once tonight."

"Is that a way for me to repay you for keeping her out all day?" Kendall asked hopefully.

"Nice try."

The party went on smoothly and everybody had a good time. People swam in the pool, danced, talked to each other, ate, and got their fortunes told. The cake was good and Kendall was even surprised that Carlos didn't do anything wrong to the cake and tried to hide it. She was really happy when she got her presents. Kendall, Carlos, James, and Logan had a bit of trouble finding what they should get her (they had gotten her presents weeks ago) and realized that for a girl like Katie, money would be fine, so they got her a bunch of gift cards to her favorite stores.

Camille, Jo, and Stephanie had gotten her hand bags and shoes. Something that every girl could use. Riley and Rhuben had gotten her matching bracelets, it had cost a bit to get but when asked by Mrs. Knight they said that they didn't mind and would do it for any of them. Ronan, who even made an appearance to her party, had gotten her a new phone, after getting permission from Mrs. Knight. And Sydney had gotten her a journal that needed her voice to open it. Patrick and Noah had decided earlier that they were going to give her their gifts last.

It was when the party was winding down and most of the people had left that they had pulled her aside to give it to her.

"So, did you guys have fun?" Katie asked as she leaned back in the pool chair that she was sitting in.

"Yeah ,it was a cool party." Patrick agreed as he looked around, watching his sisters as they cleaned up some streamers and shoved them into black garbage bags. He was sitting to the right of Katie, Noah sitting on Katie's other side. Bitters wouldn't let them leave until the pool was spotless. "Probably better than the ones that we've had back at home."

"And those were some ragers." Noah agreed in his soft voice.

"Anything ever get broken?" Katie asked and laughed when Noah snorted.

"Better question is what _didn't_ get broken that we could fix before dad got home." He replied and fell silent, a brooding expression on his face. Katie knew that he was thinking about their dad and decided to change the subject.

"So, where's my birthday gift?" she asked, sitting straight up.

"Here it is," Patrick slid a tiny box out of his pocket. "We both saved up a lot to get this for you, so we hope you like it." The twins studied her face as she took the box and opened it. Inside was a necklace that held a purple stone with a white swirl on it.

"We saw it in a jewelry store on our way home one day, and thought that it would be a good birthday present." Noah added.

"I love it," Katie grinned as she closed the box again and gave the twin boys a hug. "Thank you."

"Happy Birthday, Katie." They chorused before leaning forward and kissing her on the cheek at the same time. Katie blushed as the two stood up and went to help Riley and Rhuben finished cleaning. Sydney was curled up in a chair, sleeping already.

"I think your sister is really happy." Logan commented to Kendall. He had seen Katie get kissed by the twin boys and laughed a little bit.

"I'd have to agree with you," Kendall replied as he packed up the last bag. "I think that's everything. Thanks for all of your help, girls." He said to Jo, Camille, and Stephanie who had just finished cleaning their area.

"It's no problem." Stephanie replied with a smile. "Katie's like a sister to us so we were glad to do it." She wiped off her hands and yawned a little bit. "Wow, it's getting late. We're going to head off to bed." She turned and waved to Katie. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks." Katie waved back. "Bye!"

Everybody finished cleaning up and went off to their rooms. Kendall and Katie were the last ones at the Palm Woods pool, making sure that everything was cleaned up before they left.

"Thanks for everything, Kendall." Katie said as she hugged her brother around the neck, after beckoning for him to bend down to do so. "It was the best birthday ever."

"I'm glad you liked it," Kendall replied as he stood up, still holding onto Katie. Making sure that he didn't drop her, he swung her around until she was on his back, her arms still around his neck. "I just don't know how I'm going to top it next year." He started the short walk back to their apartment.

"You'll think of something." Katie replied before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, big bro."

"I love you too, little sis."

* * *

**A/N: Ok, 11 pages worth of this chapter and I really enjoyed writing it. I have decided that the title of the sequel to this story is going to be called 'Don't Stop Believing'. I love that song and I realized that it would be a good title to what I have planned for it. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be up soon, and it's almost over, only four chapters left. But I'm sure you guys will love the ending. I'll give you a hint: Think of the big Hollywood Sign.**

**-Riley**


	27. Big Time Understanding

**.:Chapter Twenty Seven – Big Time Understanding:.**

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****A/N: For those that asked, this chapter is about Kiley (KendallxRiley)**

"Hey, we're going into the city to get some more clothes," Rhuben said as she picked her wallet up off of her dresser and shoved it into her back pocket. "Are you coming?" she looked at her reflection in the mirror to tie her long hair up into a ponytail and put on some eyeliner. She watched her sister's reflection in the mirror. Riley thought for a second and shook her head.

"Nah, I'm just going to hang here." She replied, taking off her glasses and rubbing her nose. "Update our website; check my Facebook and Twitter, maybe Skype some friends back home." She was sitting on her bed, stretched out with a laptop on her back.

"You sure?" Rhuben asked as she turned away from the mirror to grab her shoes and pull them on. Riley nodded in reply, already engrossed in what she was doing on her laptop. "Ok, I'll bring you something back." She went over to Riley and the two did their family's special handshake before leaving.

Riley waited until she was sure that her siblings were gone before taking her laptop and walking into the living room, stretching out onto the couch. She had the apartment to herself for about twenty minutes before there was a knock on the door. She got up and went over to the door and pulled it open without even looking to see who it was, as it was usually people from Rocque Records looks for Ronan.

"Ronan's not here, he's at the studio." She said, not even looking up.

"Thanks for telling me that, but I was looking for you, actually." Riley looked up and saw Kendall standing in front of her, dressed in a simple grey t-shirt and jeans. His smile faltered when he noticed that Riley was staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Riley replied, shaking her head and taking a step back to allow him to enter the apartment. "I just wasn't expecting anybody today."

"I can tell," Kendall commented when he noticed that she was wearing a t-shirt and sweats. He peered closer at her face, noticing her glasses. "Since when do you wear glasses?"

"When I don't wear contacts." Riley replied and yawned a little bit.

"Sorry, did I just wake you up?" Kendall asked as he raised an eyebrow following her across the apartment. He looked at his watch. "I mean, it's not that late."

"No, I was up since five." She replied carelessly, running her fingers through her hair. Kendall's eyes widened as he listed his eyebrows.

"Do you ever sleep in?" He asked in disbelief.

"That's impossible for me," Riley stated carelessly as she walked back over to the couch and sat down, pulling her laptop on her lap. "I'm an early riser and as soon as I wake up, I'm awake for the rest of the day." She did something on her laptop really quick and closed it as Kendall to a seat in the chair across from the couch. "So what brings you here? How did Katie like her party?"

"She loved it," Kendall replied with a grin. "She couldn't stop thanking me for it."

"I was talking to James about it, earlier this morning," Riley stated after a second of studying Kendall. "And he said that you kind of have an obsession with making sure that Katie has a good birthday." She paused for a second. "Is it because your dad is gone?"

Kendall's eyes narrowed slightly. "How did you know that?"

Riley twirled her finger in her strand of red hair, looking sort of bored. "It's a common thing when it comes to a pair of siblings whose father is gone. Especially when he left them at such a young age. The older sibling tries to make sure that the younger sibling is happy, even sacrificing some of their own free time to make sure it happens." She snorted a little bit. "Rhu and I, we do the same thing."

"Yeah," Kendall swallowed thickly and nodded, agreeing with what Riley had said. "Our dad left us when we were really young, and I think I was affected the most out of everybody." He laughed hollowly. "Don't get me wrong, my mom was totally distraught over the whole thing, but being a boy I had a really special bond with him ya know?" he looked over at Riley and she nodded for him to continue. "And being young kids at the time, Katie and I took it really hard. We constantly asked mom when dad was going to come home. She didn't really have an answer."

"It was one day that I had come home from hockey practice that I saw that the house was empty, kind of quiet. Katie was sitting in the living room, minding her own business and watching TV. I knew that she had been there for a while from the way that she was staring at the TV screen. So I made her a quick snack and then went upstairs to try and find my mom. I found her alright. She was sitting in the middle of her bed, sobbing over her wedding picture. It was then that I knew that I was going to have to help mom get over what had happened. So since then I've always been about my family, I've helped Katie with her homework and science projects, I've helped mom when it came to cooking and cleaning the house. I even got a part-time job, earlier than most people needed at job. At Sherwood supermarket back home in Minnesota."

"Some people thought that it was weird that I was getting a job at that age, but I did it just to help. And I guess that feeling of family has stuck with me, because I know that there's a lot of temptation that you can fall into in LA, and I want to make sure that Katie and mom don't fall into that." Kendall looked kind of bitter. "Just like dad did."

"Do you know for sure why your dad left?" Riley asked after a second of silence.

Kendall shook his head. "No, and I don't even really care at this point." He smiled grimly. "I don't understand why a father would want to hurt his kids like that and I guess I never will." He suddenly looked up at Riley, looking apologetic as she was now glaring at the ceiling. Kendall wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Riley's eyes sparkle with tears. But when she blinked it was gone and her eyes were dry with fury.

"I-I'm sorry," he stammered, feeling as he had just put his foot into his mouth. He cleared his throat, which had suddenly gone dry. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"It's only fair," Riley replied as she made herself comfortable on the couch, her hand instinctively balling into a fist. "I mean, you told me about your dad, I can tell you about this." She gave a half smile. "It's a long story." She warned.

Kendall made himself comfortable in the chair. "I'm willing to listen."

"Where are the other guys?" Riley asked as she tilted her head to the side.

Kendall's lips twitched, knowing that she was just stalling a little bit. "They're running around the Palm Woods somewhere. Chasing the Jennifer's I think."

"Ok." Riley gave a short nod. "Just a quick question before I star. You know that Robert Jackson, the guy that claims is my dad is my adoptive dad, right?"

"I had the feeling," Kendall replied. "Logan and I did actually. James and Carlos didn't seem to realize that you guys didn't really look like him."

"Just making sure." Riley replied and chuckled a little bit. "I'm assuming that Logie will be pretty upset that I didn't tell him first, but Rhu and I will talk to him later." She heaved a heavy sigh. "All of this started when I was…nine." She replied after a second of thought. "Julius was eleven, Patrick and Noah were six, and Sydney was almost one." She ran a hand over her face. "Our mom and dad loved us very much, but it got sort of hard to take care of six young kids, so every now and then they got mad and hit us some times." She noticed the look on Kendall's face and explained. "But they didn't do it a lot and we knew that they loved us."

"One day, Rhu and I had come home late from the beach, because we were hanging out with some friends and surfing and stuff. Mom and Dad were really mad about it; I said it was my fault and they hit me across the face, splitting my lip. I don't think I had ever seen them that mad before. I don't really remember what happened after that. All I remember is going into my mom's and dad's room and messing up a few of their things. I found their matches, because my dad smoked cigars sometimes. I remember looking at it in my hand, and the next thing I knew, our house was on fire."

"We all got out fast enough," Riley let out a shaky breath and continued what she was saying. "But, I'm not sure, our mom and dad didn't. Julius went back inside to try and get them out, and the fire was too strong by then."

Kendall moved his hand over his mouth, he wanted to say something to comfort her, as the memory was hard to bear, but he couldn't say anything at the same time. He knew it wasn't the end of the story, and he didn't want to interrupt while there was still so much to figure out.

"Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and I were sent to the orphanage." Riley stated and laughed a little bit, a hollow, bitter laugh. "We thought that Julius was dead at this point, but he was actually in a coma for a long time. For three years to be exact. While he was in a coma, we were in the orphanage, waiting to see if we would be adopted. While there, Rhuben and I seemed to have push people away from adopting us, just because we were scared to see what would happen if a couple only wanted Sydney, or only wanted Patrick and Noah. We didn't like the idea of being split up. But then one day, a man came in and said that he wanted to adopt us."

"That's kind of odd," Kendall interrupted, his green eyes narrowed. "Why would he suddenly waltz in and just say that he wanted to adopt all of you?"

"I was getting there," Riley stated flatly. "As we were growing up, we realized that we had a lot of musical talent, we liked to sing and play instruments. At this time Julius, Rhuben, and I were starting a really small band and were playing together." Her eye twitched slightly and her hand shook as she reached a hand up to brush her hair out of her face. Kendall took that time to move onto the couch. "That was before Julius got into the coma, anyway." She swallowed before continuing. "While at the orphanage, when we weren't playing with the other kids, we were singing to pass the time, and to put Sydney to sleep. I think Robert heard about it, because he was kind of a greedy person. He adopted all five of us and moved us into his house, still in Australia. Shortly after he moved us to Texas, where we met Logan, and continued with our singing."

"And then shortly after that he thought that we would do a better job at getting discovered if we moved to LA, so we said goodbye to Logan and to Texas and moved all the way over to Los Angeles. We were still nine at the time, as it was a long year. But when Rhu and I were twelve, we got a call from the hospital back in Australia saying that Julius had come out of his coma. We didn't know that he was in one, and Robert was ecstatic, knowing that he used to be in a band with Rhu and me. So of course because he adopted the rest of us, he adopted Julius too, not wanting to break us up. It took a bit for Julius to understand what had happened and to get back to where we were before, but he eventually started to help us. At this time, Robert got really greedy and started to force us into our music and dancing as much as possible because he could see our talent. But he got really mean too."

"Julius had decided to quit singing, after Robert forced him into pursuing a singing career and that was pretty much the beginning of when he started to hit us." Riley's eyebrows knitted together and she lightly rubbed her right wrist. At the faraway look in her eyes, Kendall was sure that she wasn't even aware she was doing it. "At first it would just be because we back talked to him, because we didn't see him as a father. But as time went on, each attack got more and more vicious and more frequent. There were many times where we thought of going to the police, but then the idea of being split up just scared us to death and we decided not to tell a soul."

"So we went through that for years, and then we met you and the rest is history." Riley concluded simply. "It explains why we act the way we do." She added. "I mean, it took a while for us to trust you guys, I have the worst temper I've ever seen because I'm constantly pissed off about what he did to us. And because of the abuse, mentally Sydney reverted back to a five year old, despite how smart he is." She raised an eyebrow when she realized that Kendall was staring at her, mirroring the interaction from earlier. "What?" Kendall opened his mouth to reply and she stopped him before he could say anything. "Don't go feeling sorry for me."

"Too late." He replied simply and leaned forward as Riley rolled her eyes. She flinched and moved away. Kendall stayed put, looking apologetic. "You guys are our best friends and we want to help you in any way that we can."

"You're already helping us." Riley replied as she turned away, as if embarrassed to look him in the eye. "More than you know." She added quietly. She turned back to Kendall. "You remember a few months back when we ran into each other in the super market? When I said that our dad wouldn't let us have friends?"

"Yeah." Kendall replied, not sure what that had to do with anything.

He remembered that day clearly, it was before they had actually figured out what was wrong with the Jacksons, although he had a feeling that something was wrong when Sydney made Riley break off their conversation quickly.

"Well, that was true." Riley gave a half smile. "But somehow along the way, you guys became the best friends that we could ever have. From time to time, you've helped us when it came to forgetting about the pain that we've endured." Her smile suddenly faded. "Although there were times where you could annoy the hell out of me."

"You're welcome." Kendall replied with a nod. "But I don't really see how we helped you."

"Just being concerned is what helped." Riley replied, rolling her neck, cracking sounds audible, her gaze resting on her hands as she played with her fingers. "We're not really used to people caring about us, but it really helped to know that someone cared."

She looked up and the two locked eyes, smiling a little bit. Kendall fidgeted slightly before slowly moving towards her.

"We're back, Ri-Ri." Patrick announced, almost giving his sister a heart attack as he kicked open the front door of the apartment. Startled, Kendall backed up to his original position. Patrick beamed when he saw Kendall. "Hey Kendall, what's up?"

"Not much," Kendall replied as he got to his feet. "I was just getting ready to go."

"That was a fast trip." Riley commented as she got off of the couch too and gave her brother a hug. He gave her a hug back and showed her the pants that he had gotten as Noah went to explain why they were back so early.

"Yeah, a lot of the stores didn't have the styles we wanted, so we settled on the last one we checked." Noah agreed, holding up a bag of clothes to prove his point. "But we brought something back for you." He added and nodded over towards Rhuben, who was walking into their shared room. He turned to Kendall. "Do you want to stay for lunch?"

"That I'm most likely going to be making." Riley added with a slight roll of her eyes. "I'm sort of the cook of the family" she added.

"No thank you," Kendall replied as he shook his head. "Like I said, I have to get going." He turned and placed his hand on Riley's shoulder, noticing that she didn't flinch that time. "You going to be ok?"

"I've made it this far, I'm sure another day won't kill me." She replied, smirking a little bit and then nodding. "I'll be fine. Later."

"Bye." Kendall gave a short wave before leaving the apartment. Riley walked over to hers and Rhuben's bedroom and caught the shirt that Rhuben had tossed at her.

"So, what was Kendall doing here?" Rhuben asked as she put the new hat that she bought on her head and looked at herself in the mirror.

"We were just talking," Riley replied as she leaned against the doorframe, looking at the shirt in her hands.

"About what?" Rhuben asked as she turned to look at her sister. Riley tossed the shirt back to her, motioning for her twin to put it up for her.

"Nothing important." She replied with a hint of a smile. "We just understand each other."

* * *

**A/N: I know, I bet you guys are all frustrated that they aren't together yet and the story is almost over. I needed a chapter so that you guys could really find out about the Jacksons' past and this is it. I purposely made it that none of the couples got together, so I could put it into the sequel, because I wanted to get a lot of their friendship out of the way before jumping right in and making them fall for each other. Next chapter will be up soon (most likely later this afternoon/tonight). Here's another hint for the end chapter: S'mores**

**-Riley**


	28. Big Time News

**.:Chapter Twenty Eight – Big Time News:.**

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**"DOGS! THE STUDIO! NOW!"

James groaned as he lifted his head from his pillow to look at his clock. Across the room, Carlos groaned and turned on his bed, pulling the covers up over his head. It was only 6:30 in the morning and they could hear Gustavo from all the way at Rocque Records. That definitely meant that either something was wrong, or he was going to torture them. And if James had to guess, it would be torture.

"Guys," the door opened and Kendall stuck his head in, turning on the overhead light. "C'mon, Gustavo needs us for whatever reason." He didn't sound as if he was awake either and when James sat up, he felt himself smiling, as Kendall's hair was sticking up all over his head.

"Alright, we'll be out in a minute." Carlos replied as he picked up his helmet and put it over his face. "Why is it so dark in here?" James grabbed his pillow and tossed it at Carlos, successfully knocking the helmet off of Carlos' face. "Oh. Thanks."

Kendall laughed and left the room, closing the door behind him. James and Carlos must have had the same idea, because instead of getting up, they just pulled their blankets over their heads and tried to go back to sleep. That was until=

"DOGS! NOW!"

James and Carlos leapt out of their beds and crashed into each other as they stumbled around, trying to get dressed and ready to go before Gustavo yelled at them all over again. The two quickly got dressed and founds Carlos' helmet amongst the mess on the floor and left their bedroom, only to bump into Logan and Kendall who were rushing out of their room, bouncing on one foot as they tried to tie their shoes. Unfortunately, all four of them crashed into each other and fell to the ground, as they weren't watching where they were going.

"Come on guys, I don't want my mom and sister to wake up because of Gustavo." Kendall whispered as he got up, helping his friends up off of the ground.

"Remind me to tell Gustavo that it's against common courteousy to shout like that at this hour of the morning." Logan stated as they left their apartment and started the short walk to Rocque Records. Carlos laughed and slung his arm around Logan's shoulders.

"Do that and we'll be cleaning you up from the carpet after Gustavo sits on you." He grinned and laughed harder. "Like he did with the couch."

"Don't remind me," Logan shuddered in reply.

"Hey Kelly," James greeted with a wave and a yawn when they saw Gustavo's assistant waiting for them in the lobby, her Palm Pilot in her hand as always. "What does Gustavo want with us so early in the morning?" He stopped when he noticed her big smile. "And what's with the Jack-O-Lantern smile?"

"Come in and you'll find out." Kelly replied as she put her Palm Pilot away and turned on her heel, leading the guys back to Gustavo's office. She pushed the door open and motioned for them to sit down in the four chairs that were sitting in front of Gustavo's desk. The chair behind Gustavo's desk was turned around so they couldn't see who was in the chair.

"What did you want, Gustavo?" Kendall asked through a yawn as he rubbed his face.

The chair turned around and the four boys let out involuntary screams when they saw Arthur Griffin sitting in the chair instead of Gustavo.

"Surprise," he smiled in that sort of creepy way of his, causing the four boys to look around curiously as his two assistants walked into the room. They stood behind Griffin, arms behind their back, looking more like secret service than his assistants.

"Where's Gustavo?" James asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah and why are you sitting in his chair?" Carlos questioned.

"Gustavo went out to get me some coffee," Griffin replied, the grin never leaving his face. "And I like his chair. It's so roomy." The door burst open and a disgruntled Gustavo entered the room with a large cup of coffee in his hands. He handed it over to Gustavo and waited at the back of the room, next to Kelly.

"Now, Griffin, what did you make me call the dogs in here for?" he demanded.

"You don't know what's going on either?" Kendall asked, turning to face his producer. Gustavo, a perma-frown on his face, crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance.

"No, he just barged into my office, ordered me to call you guys, and sent me out to get him some coffee so he could sit in my chair." Gustavo growled in reply.

"But he _is_ your boss," Kelly reminded him, making sure that whatever he said didn't cost him their jobs. "So I'm sure that he has a valuable reason for waking us all up so early." She turned and gave Griffin a tight smile. "And for disturbing the peace."

"I do have a good reason, actually." Griffin replied as he leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "I was thinking of what would be a good way to promote Big Time Rush even more? And you guys already have a CD coming out, so what could be better?"

"Our faces on a billboard?" James asked with a huge grin. "So whenever people are driving down the street they can see us and wonder who we are. And to make it even better," he pulled four bandanas out of his jeans pocket. "We can wear bandanas."

"NO BANDANAS!" Logan, Kendall, and Carlos declared at the same time.

James merely shrugged and put the bandanas away. "You guys are going to have to wear them eventually; you might as well just get it over with now."

"There's an idea," Griffin stated, although he wasn't going to take the idea. "But I have a better idea. How about you guys," he paused in his sentence, to add more suspense and stood up, taking off his pants. Kelly covered her face as Gustavo, Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan looked at him in confusion. He changed his pants with another pair that his assistants were holding and sat back down. "Aah, don't you just love the feeling of warm pants?" he cleared his throat. "Anyway, my idea is that you guys go on a summer tour."

Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan looked at him blankly before erupting into shouts and cheers of disbelief. After all this time, they were getting their first CD put out, and they were also going on a tour? It was hard to believe that it was happening. All of that work was finally paying off.

"But that was my idea," Gustavo stated, looking even more annoyed. "I pitched it to you like a month-"

"For three months, all summer, you're going to be touring around the US, promoting your CD." Griffin stated with a warm smile. "I'm glad you like my idea."

"But it was my-"

"Gustavo, please fill them in on the details" Griffin stated with a careless wave of his hand and left the office. Gustavo grumbled something in reply before turning to the guys with a smile almost as wide as theirs.

"Nice job!" he cried, causing the four boys to fall silent. "What?"

"This is the first time that you've ever given us a compliment," Logan replied as his eyebrows knitted together. "It just sounded weird."

"Well, thanks to you dogs and your tour, I'm now back at the top of my game, and Griffin can't tell me what to do anymore." Gustavo replied, happier than any of the guys have ever seen him before. "Take a day off! Go hang out with your friends! Buy a mall for all I care! I'm back in business!"

"C'mon, let's go tell the others!" Carlos said as he jumped to his feet, bouncing around in happiness. Calling goodbyes over their shoulders, the four boys left Rocque Records and headed back to the Palm Woods to find their friends.

"Camille!" James called as soon as he saw her sitting in the lobby, looking over a script.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked before getting pulled into a tight hug by Carlos. "Ok, ow! Carlos, that's a little too tight" Carlos quickly apologized and let her go. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the huge grins on the guys' faces. "What are you guys smiling at me like that for?"

"Camille, Gustavo just gave us the news," Kendall explained and then paused. "Well, actually, Griffin gave it to us. But our CD is coming out this summer and we're going on a summer tour to promote it!" he jumped a little bit, hardly able to contain his excitement. "For three months!"

"Oh my god!" Camille clasped her hands over her mouth, grinning with happiness. "That's so awesome, congrats guys." She suddenly lightly hit herself on the forehead. "By the way, the Jacksons are looking for you guys. They have some news for you." She beamed. "And so do I?"

"Oh yeah, what's that?" James asked, genuinely interested.

"You're looking at the Average Kid #3 in a new upcoming slasher film." Camille grinned, waving her script in their faces. "Apparently, me and two other kids are the first to die. But that gives me time to work on my screams of death."

"Congratulations, Camille." Logan replied with a grin. "That's really amazing for you."

"Thank You." Camille smiled and then suddenly let out a high-pitched scream, causing the four boys to scream back at her. Everybody in the lobby stared at them, not sure why they were screaming. Although, the guys weren't sure why they were screaming themselves. "So, what did you think of that one?" she asked when she was done screaming.

The boys brushed their hair back down, as it had flown backwards off of their forehead, due to a strange wind that had blown when she started to scream. "That was very…convincing." Kendall replied and looked at his friends for backup, rolling his eye when they started babbling their agreement. "So, where are the Jacksons?"

"They're at Palm Woods Park" Camille replied and turned and walked away.

The boys left the Palm Woods and walked around to the side to go to Palm Woods Park. Once there, they looked around until they spotted Riley kneeling on the ground, a camera up to her face, taking a picture of Patrick and Noah, who were sitting on a bench, as they blew bubble gum bubbles that were the size of their heads. Behind the bench, Rhuben had a hold on Sydney's wrists and was spinning him in a circle.

"There they are," Logan pointed and then waved an arm over his head as they all started over. "Hey guys!" he called.

Riley looked up and draped the camera around her neck before rushing over to Logan, an excited look in her eyes. When she reached them, she threw her arms around Logan's neck in a hug and then grabbed onto his forearms, bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Logie, you're not going to believe what Ronan told us." She cried.

"_You're_ not going to believe what Gustavo _told_ us!" Logan replied, matching her enthusiasm. "We're going on tour!"

"So are we!" Riley replied, looking shocked and amused at the same time.

"For three months!"

"So are we!"

"Around the US!"

"So are we!"

Logan's eyes grew wide and his smile grew bigger. "Seriously?" he asked, excited at the thought. Riley tilted her head to the side, brushing her long hair over her shoulder.

"No," she replied and chuckled a little bit as Logan's face fell. "We're touring around Australia."

"That's really cool guys, congratulations." Kendall smiled warmly and jumped as Patrick's and Noah's bubbles popped, sending pink goo all over their faces. Kendall laughed as they walked over to the two boys. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to set a world record to blow the biggest bubble," Noah replied and winced as he pulled a chunk off of his eyebrow. "But that's going to be harder than we thought." He grinned. "Did you guys hear the news?"

"Yeah, you're going on tour." Carlos agreed as Rhuben and Sydney walked over. "So are we. But we're touring the US."

"Yeah," Rhuben pulled her hair out of its ponytail, brushed it out, and then put it back up. "We were hoping that you guys could open for us, but that's going to be kind of hard since we're going to be in two different countries in two parts of the world."

"Maybe you could open for us another time," Sydney offered, dimples appearing in his cheeks as he rested his arms on the bench. "Anyway, Ronan is taking us out for dinner tonight, to celebrate the news of the tour. Do you want to join us? It could be a congratulations dinner for both of our bands."

"That sounds like a good idea," James agreed as he rubbed his stomach. "The last time we went out for dinner it ended in a food fight." He cried out in pain as Kendall, Carlos, and Logan slapped him on the arms, trying to get him to shut up.

"That doesn't surprise me," Patrick snorted. "Almost everywhere we go there's massive chaos, but that's usually Riley's fault." He added in a stage whisper.

"Excuse me?" Riley whipped her head around and glared at her brother. "It's always _your_ fault! You _always_ say something stupid to make us fight over nothing."

"Details."

"Invite your mom and your sister too," Rhuben continued on with the earlier conversation. "I'm sure they'd love to go out too. In fact, we already invited Jo, Camille, and Stephanie to come too." She threw her arms into the air. "It could be a huge party for everybody."

"So I'm guessing that Camille told you that she got the part in that slasher film?" James dead-panned.

"More like screamed at us." Noah stated as he wiggled a finger in his ear. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone yell so loud." He moved his hand out of his ear and smiled as Riley took another picture.

"Yeah, we know the feeling."

* * *

**A/N: Filler chapter, kind of boring. Next one is up soon and that one will definitely have you guys laughing for a while. Anyway, do you know what they're going to do in the last chapter yet? ^-^**

**-Riley**


	29. Big Time Pranks and Chaos

**.:Chapter Twenty Nine – Big Time Pranks and Chaos:.**

**

* * *

**"Ow! God dammit!"

"Shh, be quiet, we don't want to wake them up!"

Patrick's lips curled into a smile as he twisted off the cap to a jar of Vaseline. Quietly, he stuck his hand into the jar, pulling out a handful of the goop, and smeared it all over the door handle that was in front of his face. The sound of snoring suddenly stopped and he dove under the closest bed. Pulling back the blankets, he looked up to see Kendall turning around on his bed, going back to sleep. Patrick sighed in relief and crawled back out from under the bed, adjusting the black ski cap that he had on his head. He army crawled out of from under the bed and slowly and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him, using the outside handle.

"Did you finish?" Noah asked in a whisper, causing Patrick to whirl around quickly. He was dressed up like his older brother, all in black, including a black ski cap and black streaks under their eyes. He, like Patrick, held a tub of Vaseline in his hands.

"Yeah," Patrick whispered back in reply, pausing for a second to make sure that no one had woken up. "Did you remember to bring the rope?" Noah reached into his backpack and pulled out a long rope, smiling evilly. Patrick matched the smile with an identical one of his and grabbed onto the rope, tying it to the door handle to Kendall's and Logan's bedroom before backing up across the apartment and tying the other end to the door handle to James' and Carlos' bedroom. "Now, for the best part." He turned to Noah and gave him thumbs up.

Noah gave him thumbs up in reply before standing up on top of the couch, a matchbook in his hands. He quickly lit a match and held it up to the smoke alarm that was above him. He quickly waved out the match as the alarm went off and jumped to the ground, waiting to watch the show.

"What's going on?" Mrs. Knight cried as she ran out of her room with Katie, holding onto the fire extinguisher. "Where's the fire?"

"There is no fire," Patrick hissed in reply, listening as the boys started to wake up, screaming at each other, wondering what was going on. "We're playing a prank on the guys."

"_This_ I gotta see." Katie declared, suddenly more awake than ever.

"Well," Mrs. Knight set aside the fire extinguisher. "As long as nothing is on fire."

Katie giggled to herself when she heard the frantic shouts of her brother and his friends as they tried to open the doors to their rooms. Of course with all of the Vaseline on it, there was no way that they could get a good grip. And when they did, they wouldn't be able to get the door open as they were tied together.

"Whose idea was this?" she asked, turning to the twin boys.

"It was a joint idea from a sleepover that we had a while back," Patrick replied as he pulled a pair of scissors out of his cargo pocket. "And now the best part." Whistling to himself, he walked over to the rope, opened the scissors, and then closed them in one snap, causing the rope to break. At that moment, the boys had given another tug on the rope and when the rope broke, they were sent sprawling to the ground.

"Well, that's our cue to leave." Noah stated and heaved his backpack onto his back before he and Patrick high-tailed it out of the room. "Bye Katie."

"And don't tell them that it was us," Patrick added as he stuck his head back into the doorway before disappearing from sight again.

Katie turned back to see Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James looking around frantically. "Where's the fire? What's going on?" Carlos was shouting.

"And what's this stuff on our hands and door?" James added. "Although it _does_ seem to make my skin feel smoother." He added as an afterthought as he smoothed it over his arms.

"Looks like someone pranked you guys." Mrs. Knight stated and all of the boys' eyes fell on Katie. She held her hands up defensively, still giggling.

"Don't look at me," she replied. "I can come up with good pranks, but this one really wasn't me." She scoffed. "Besides, I'm usually pranking people one at a time."

"She's right." Kendall sighed and tried to wipe his hands off, but the goop just fell to the floor. "I wonder who it was."

"Who cares?" Logan made a face. "I'm going to get cleaned up."

* * *

"You really did that prank?" Sydney asked his brothers for the sixth time since they had gone back to their apartment. "Seriously?" he laughed when they nodded. "Ok, when you asked for a good prank I really didn't think that you would do that one."

"Yeah, especially since it's only _slightly_ different than what happened to you at Park's sleepover." Rhuben added from where she was sitting on the couch, legs tucked underneath her and sipping some hot chocolate. She looked up as Riley walked by, handing her brothers mugs of hot chocolate too. "Were you awake when they headed out?"

"Yeah," Riley replied simply as she moved Sydney to sit in the chair, placing him back on her lap. "I gave them the scissors. Ronan was already at work so they didn't have to worry about him." She looked at her watch before grinning over at Patrick. "I've taught you well."

"Thank you." Patrick replied before giving her a high-five.

Last night after dinner they had all gotten back really late, from celebrating their two tours. It was at the time when they were getting ready for bed that the five of them were talking about how they wanted to liven up the Palm Woods by playing a few harmless pranks. Patrick and Noah had said that they really wanted to play a prank on Big Time Rush and that they needed ideas. They had started brainstorming when Ronan had overheard their conversation. And he said as long as he didn't get caught in the crossfire or blamed at all (and after making sure it was harmless fun) he said that it was fine.

There was a knock on the door and the Jacksons looked at each other in amusement before Sydney got up off of Riley's lap and skipped over to the door. He pulled it open and it didn't surprise them to see Big Time Rush and Katie standing in the doorway.

"Hey Hockey-Head, how's it going?" Riley called, trying to hide a smile as Sydney let them into the apartment. Rhuben smirked at her sister before giving a small wave to her friends.

"Not bad," Kendall replied as Katie jumped onto the bean bag chair that was sitting near the couch, hiding a smile on her face. "Except for the fact that someone pranked us this morning."

"Oh really?" Noah widened his blue eyes to try and look innocent. "What kind of a prank was it?" Katie giggled and turned away when James turned to look at her.

"Someone had snuck in, put Vaseline on our door handles, tied our doors shut, and set off the fire alarm." Logan replied and looked right at Rhuben. She practically chocked on her hot chocolate before setting her mug down on the coffee table.

"What makes you think it was me?" she asked, looking offended. "I may be a prankster, but I'm also a person that _likes_ sleep." She waved her arms in the air. "I wasn't up until about two minutes ago, so it couldn't have been me."

"Relax," Logan looked shocked. "I wasn't accusing you; I was just getting ready to ask what's in your cup?"

"Hot chocolate," Rhuben replied and watched as he grabbed the cup and took a sip before she could even say anything. "Want some?" she added sarcastically.

"Anyone, we were wondering if you could help us find out who pranked us." Kendall replied, getting back to the conversation at hand. "We want to prank them back."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Sydney commented, shaking his head so his fringe went flying back and forth across his face. "Because, it would just send a prank back your way twice as hard." He shook his head again. "No, trust me; it would be a good idea if you didn't do this."

"Why?" James' voice turned dangerously low as he looked at the small boy. "Do you know who did it?"

Sydney's lower lip trembled as he looked at Patrick and Noah out of the corner of his eye. They were staring intently at him, eyes narrowed until he cracked. Sydney opened his mouth and let out a wail as he dropped to his knees. "Please, don't prank us back! It wasn't even our idea, it was Patrick and Noah!" he pointed to the twin boys, who looked annoyed. "It was their idea."

"You pranked us?" Carlos asked as he pointed at the twin boys, who smiled in reply.

"Obviously," Noah deadpanned and lightly hit his baby brother on the back of the head. "Now that you know." He grinned. "It was a good one, you have to admit. Even Katie thought it was good."

"You knew it was them?" Logan asked as he turned to look at the young girl. She rolled her eyes.

"Obviously" she replied, mimicking Noah.

"You _do_ know we're going to get you back for this, right?" Kendall asked as he stood up, motioning for his friends to do so. "Team BTR will never lose!"

"Oh, so this is a war now, is it?" Rhuben asked as she raised an eyebrow, her accent growing thicker. "Well, we accept." She turned towards Logan. "Don't expect Riles and I to go easy on you since we've known you for so long." She warned, brushing her hair over her shoulder. Logan watched her movement before looking her right in the eye.

"I didn't expect you to." Logan smiled in reply. '_Maybe with this competitive edge, Rhu will start to see me as more than just her nerdy friend._'

* * *

As the day went on Big Time Rush and the DarkElements sent practical jokes back and forth, starting with simple ones such as: Big Time Rush ordering numerous pizzas and sending it to DarkElements' apartment and rigging buckets of water over doors. To more creative ones such as: The DarkElements gluing the guys' headphones to their ears at the studio. Unfortunately, on more than one occasion some other people have gotten stuck in the crossfire. Such as Stephanie getting tarred and feathered, a prank of the DarkElements' that had gone wrong. They apologized profusely before explaining what was going on and after a while she agreed to keep score. (Whoever pranked the other side the most gets two points to their overall score of their friendly competition.)

Now it was 2:00 and the two teams had just called a break, making a truce so they were able to have some time to rest and to get something to eat. It was then that Kendall had an idea for another prank.

"Hey Riley, how's it going?" he greeted smoothly as he walked over to her, where she was sitting in the Palm Woods' restaurant, eating a sandwich and fries. Riley looked at him suspiciously as he slid into the seat across from her, giving her a warm smile.

"Fine," she replied slowly as she put down the fry that was in her hand. "How's it going with you?"

"Just fine," he moved a little closer, and Riley instinctively moved back, raising her eyebrow. "So, what's good to eat here?"

"Anything you've ever eaten for room service." She replied bluntly. Kendall raised an eyebrow as he sat back, holding his hands up.

"C'mon Riley, we called a truce, can't we just talk like normal human beings?" he asked innocently. Riley continued to look at him suspiciously for a few more seconds. "I swear, I'm not going to do anything."

"Fine," Riley sighed and reached for the salt shaker, bringing it over her plate. She hesitated for a second and then set it back down, unscrewing the top of the salt shaker, pulling a napkin out of the top. She turned the napkin over and pepper dumped onto the table. "Nice try." She stated and screwed the cap back on.

"Yeah, I definitely can't fool you with that," Kendall laughed a little bit. "So where are your brothers and sister?"

"Working on some stuff," Riley replied as she continued with her lunch. "Packing probably, we're leaving to go back home really soon." She shrugged. "You know, just to get used to being back home before we go on tour."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Kendall agreed. "I think that we're just going to go straight into the tour." He chuckled a little bit. "You know how Gustavo is."

"Yep." She replied simply and stood up, pushing her plate away. "I gotta get going."

"Where are you going?" Kendall asked, getting up and moving to block her exit. She took a step back, wondering why he was being so forward. "I could walk you there."

'_This has to be part of a prank_' Riley thought to herself as she studied Kendall. '_And I'm not that stupid to fall for it. But that doesn't mean that I can't get him in his own prank. So maybe this is a good thing_.' She forced an extremely sweet smile. "That would be great."

"After you," Kendall replied, taking a step back.

"Thank you."

Riley walked out of the Palm Woods restaurant, towards the Palm Woods pool. When she passed a line of potted plants that lined the side, she gave the thumbs up to her side, towards the bushes and ducked to the ground. Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney popped up and pelted Kendall with a bunch of water balloons.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Riley cried gleefully as Kendall spat out a stream of water.

"No," Kendall smiled back at her. "I got you."

"Huh?" Patrick asked from where he was sitting behind the potted plant, a tree hat on his head. Riley must have had the same expression on her face as Kendall took a step back and turned towards the opposite end of the Palm Woods Pool.

"Ok!" he shouted.

Before the Jacksons' eyes James and Carlos popped up from behind a potted plant at the back of the Palm Woods pool, holding onto a rope. They pulled it, staring intently over Riley's head. She followed the rope and looked up in time to duck her head as a splatter of something sticky fell onto her head.

"Let me guess," Rhuben climbed out of the bushes and sniffed the air beside her sister. "Honey?"

"Yep." Riley replied through gritted teeth.

"You have to admit that was really good." Noah commented as her siblings crowded around her. Sydney swiped some off of her cheek.

"Tasty too."

"Gotcha." Kendall sing-songed as he wrung out his shirt.

"Just for that, we're going to get you back extra hard." Riley stated calmly as she rubbed honey off of her arms. "I'm going to go take a shower, that is, unless you did something to it."

"You're forgetting Ri-Ri, that we made it a rule, after this morning that our apartments are off limits." Patrick commented and he grabbed her elbow and started to lead her away. "Come on."

* * *

"Hey Bella-"

"Freeze!" Rhuben held a hand up in front of Logan's face, causing him to screech to a halt. Patrick and Noah moved in front f her as if they were body guards. "Search him." They moved forward and started to pat down his clothes.

"He's clean." Noah confirmed with a nod.

"Ok," Rhuben replied and turned back to Logan. "What's up?"

Logan sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I'm not going to prank you right out in the open like this. Give me more credit than that." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I just wanted to get you opinion on something."

"That depends on what it is," Rhuben replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I mean, we _are_ in the middle of a war right now."

"You can trust me, Rhu." Logan stated a pleading look in his eyes. "You've known me for forever."

"Fine," Rhuben crossed her arms over her chest and moved close to Noah. "Stay around the corner and keep an eye on him, alright? If you think he's going to do something, let him have it."

"Got it." Noah nodded in reply and nudged Patrick before the two walked away.

"I was wondering what you thought of this," Logan fished his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small necklace with a silver pendant on the end. Or, that's what the pendant was, it seemed to have been smashed to pieces at that point. Rhuben's eyes widened when she saw it and she sucked in a sharp breath.

Logan grinned, knowing that he had got her. This necklace was a duplicate of one that she had in her room, she knew because James and Carlos had gone to check. He made a duplicate easily and decided that a good prank would be to see what would happen if she thought that he had broken something of hers.

"Gotcha." He teased, closing his hand. His smile faded when Rhuben's eyes looked shinier, they were starting to fill with tears. "What?"

"How could you do that?" she asked in a whisper, staring intently at his hand.

"What are you talking about? This is fake." Logan replied and showed it to her again, looking as if he was going to have a heart attack.

"No its not you idiot," Rhuben snapped in reply as she took the broken pendant from him. "I got this from my mom and dad before they died. It's a locket." She forced it open and inside was a picture of her mother and father on their wedding day. She moved a hand up to cover her eyes and Logan could tell that she was starting to cry.

Logan felt as if he was going to throw up when he saw the hurt look on Rhuben's face. "I…Rhu, I…" he swallowed thickly as tears started to fall down Rhuben's cheeks. "I'm sorry, Rhu-"

"Leave me alone," she mumbled and shoved the pendant into her pocket and stormed around the corner. As she as she turned the corner she regained her composure and brushed the tears off of her cheeks as Patrick and Noah golf clapped and Riley and Rhuben appeared behind Bitters' desk, both holding onto a video camera.

"Bravo." Noah complimented.

"Nice job with the fake tears." Patrick added as he handed her a tissue.

"Who said they were fake?" Rhuben winced and squeezed her eyes shut as she wiped her eyes. "That tear gas I rubbed onto my hands really hurts my eye."

"That's the point of tear gas." Sydney pointed out and grinned. "Don't you just love that we used to play pranks on each other all the time?" he pulled a necklace out of his pocket and handed it over to Rhu-Rhu. "Here's your real necklace, I moved it just in case they went back to look for it."

"Thanks." Rhuben took it back.

* * *

"Are you sure that she wasn't just faking it?" James asked worriedly. Logan was lying down on the couch, an arm over his face, his friends circled around him.

"No, she doesn't cry unless something really hurts her," Logan replied. "And obviously I have."

"Can I ask you something?" Carlos questioned before interrupting Logan's smart-alecky response saying that he already did. "Would you worry this much if it was Riley that you hurt?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Logan demanded as he moved his arm away from his face and glared at his friend. "Of course I would."

"No you wouldn't," Kendall replied and motioned to him and James and Carlos. "We can tell from the way that you look at her, that even though the three of you guys are best friends, Rhuben is special to you. Even more special than Riley. You might as well admit it to yourself."

He looked up as there was a knock on the apartment door. Quickly looking back at Logan, Kendall moved over to the door and opened it, surprised to see the Jacksons as they trooped into the room.

"Do you give up?" Sydney asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Carlos asked, his eyebrows etched together in confusion. He pointed to Rhuben, who looked completely calm and pointed at her. "Why aren't you crying?"

"Because I don't cry," she replied simply and then turned to Logan. "And that necklace you 'broke'" she used air quotes. "Wasn't mine. It was a copy that Sydney made." She gave a half smile. "I just used your prank against you."

"What?" Logan jumped off of the couch.

"I used your prank against you," Rhuben repeated calmly. "Kind of like what Kendall did to Riley's prank." She turned to the guys. "Unless that was just strategic planning."

"But," Logan looked extremely confused and grabbed onto Rhuben's arm. "I really thought that I had really hurt you."

"Trust me," she looked right into his eyes. "No one can hurt me as much as my dad did." She looked uncomfortable for a second, noticing that everyone was staring at them.

'_Why did he care that much?_' she asked herself. '_It was just a stupid necklace and even if he had broken the real one, I would be mad at first, hell, probably for a long while. It's obvious that he was really stressing out over it_.'

"Logie, are you ok?" she questioned, moving her arm from his grasp. "It was just a joke."

"It's not a joke if someone's feeling are involved." He replied and then forced a smile. "But I'll be fine." He took a step back, clearing his throat. "I have to admit, that was really good. What did you use for the tears?"

"Pepper spray smeared on my hand." Rhuben replied and moved away from him, raising her eyebrows. "You sure we're ok? Because I really care about our friendship, especially after we had been apart for a while."

"Yeah," Logan nodded in reply. "I promise." He looked away from her gaze. She frowned.

"So, to break up this awkward conversation," Riley moved across the room and put her arms around her sister and her best friend. "Who wants to play a prank on Bitters?"

"Why on Bitters?" Sydney questioned, not quite exactly sure what she meant.

"Why not?" James snorted in reply. "He's been making our lives miserable ever since we got here." He rubbed his hands together. "How about we mess with his hair gel?"

"How is that a prank?" Logan asked as he turned to his friend. James shrugged in reply.

"It would make me upset."

"No it has to be something better," Noah murmured as he rubbed his chin. "Let's everybody think of something. Maybe we can all get an idea." All of them sat around for five minutes, thinking of what prank would be good for him. "It has to be something that will break one of his rules."

"'Cause we all know he hates that." Rhuben commented dryly.

Kendall racked his brain really hard, thinking of a good prank. When they were younger, the four of them pranked each other all the time. They even had Katie help them sometimes. But the only pranks that they refused to do were ones that had to do with animals…

He looked across the room at Riley, whose face suddenly lit up, as if she had just seen a bar of gold.

"I have an idea" they said at the same time.

* * *

"Are you sure that we're not going to get in trouble for this?" Logan asked as he held onto the leash that was attached to a pig.

Riley was kneeling by its side, painting the number '4' on it. Around them, James and Carlos were holding onto a pig that was labeled number '1' and Patrick and Noah were holding onto a pig labeled number '2'. Rhuben and Sydney were in the lobby, watching Bitters. The joke was that they were going to set it free in the Palm Woods and watch as Bitters went looking for the non-existent pig marked number '3'. Riley had heard about the prank and Kendall had seen it online once. It was just a stroke of luck that the two of them had the same idea at the same time. The only way that they had gotten the pig was they had recruited Katie into smooth-talking a farmer into letting her borrow them. Somehow all of her watching of Fox helped her make it possible.

And it only cost Kendall ten bucks for her to do it.

"Trust me, we're not." Riley stated as she finished up. "Besides, if we _do_ get in trouble, I'll take the blame, it was my idea."

"It was _our_ idea," Kendall pointed out. "So we'll both take the blame." He patted Logan on the arm. "Logie, you worry too much." He grinned. "Ok, release the pigs!"

James, Carlos, Patrick, Noah, and Logan let go of the pigs and they watched as they all went charging into the lobby. Stacking on top of each other, Riley, Kendall, James, Carlos, Patrick, Noah, and Logan peered around the corner to the lobby to see what was going on.

"OH MY GOD!" Sydney shouted, louder than he needed to. "WHAT ARE PIGS DOING IN THE PALM WOODS LOBBY?"

"I DON'T KNOW," Rhuben replied. "BUT THEY'RE DESTROYING EVERYTHING!" the two backed up as a pig walked by, knocking over the row of white boards. At the crashing sound, Bitters ran out of his office. He, like the others that were in the lobby, screamed when they saw the pigs.

"Pigs! In the Palm Woods?" he screeched. "Help me!" he shouted to random people. "Help me get them out f here!" He tried diving onto a pig, but missed and crashed the ground. Big Time Rush and the DarkElements burst out laughing before going back up to the guys' apartment.

"We're good." Kendall and Riley declared as they high-fived.

* * *

**A/N: So I realized in the summary of this story that there was going to be pranks and chaos that ensue with the two bands being friends and that hadn't really happened. And this is what this chapter was all about. I hope you guys liked it. Small Lella and Kiley moments in there.**

**And for those who are wondering how the Jacksons were able to twist Big Time Rush's pranks back against them, it's because they've had so much time by themselves and being alone because of their father's abuse that they played pranks on each other. And after a while they could spot a prank from a mile away and use their acting skills to twist it around. Sorry if that wasn't clear.**

**-Riley**


	30. Big Time Goodbye

**.:Chapter Thirty – Big Time Goodbye:.**

**

* * *

**"So you guys are really leaving tomorrow," Logan commented as he placed a box in the corner of Riley's and Rhuben's now empty bedroom.

He turned around and made a face when he saw how empty the room was. The white walls that used to hold their posters and necklaces and photos were now taken down. The tops of the dressers were free of make-up, bracelets, cameras, and laptops. The drawers were empty, as their clothes for the next day were lying out and everything else was back in their bags.

"Yep, our flight is at ten PM." Rhuben agreed as she closed a box and put tape over the flaps. "This means when we land we'll be in Australia at midnight tomorrow, or the day after." She shook her head as a confused look crossed her face. "I keep forgetting about the massive time difference."

"Thanks for coming over to help us finish packing," Riley added as she twirled the necklace that as around her neck as she looked around. She had the hint of a smile on her face, but Logan could tell that she wasn't necessarily happy that they were leaving. Rhuben moved her camera up in front of her face and Riley stuck her tongue out as Rhuben took the picture.

"It's no problem," Logan replied as he lowered himself to the floor beside her, leaning against the dresser. A week ago was then they had their prank war, and after that small moment of everyone thinking that Logan and Rhuben weren't going to be friends anymore, especially after how scared he was, but as usual they had put that incident behind them and had stayed close friends. And because Big Time Rush knew that the Jacksons were leaving soon, they all tried to spend their free time hanging out together (BTR, DE, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie.) "You probably would have procrastinated so much on it that you would have been up all night if I didn't help" he added teasingly.

"You're probably right." Rhuben stated as she flopped down on to the floor on Logan's other side. She lifted her head and rolled her eyes at the ceiling when she heard Patrick's and Noah's arguing over something from the next room. To make it worse, Sydney was shouting, trying to get their attention. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off as Ronan walked into their room and said something, causing them to fall silent. "Saved by Ronan." She grinned and then sighed heavily.

"You're thinking about how lonely we're going to be?" Riley questioned, looking down at her hands.

"Yep." Rhuben replied simply.

"Thought so."

"You know what your guys' problem is?" Logan asked as he rolled his eyes. "You're a bunch of downers. You're going to be on tour for three months, if you get lonely you have each other, and I'm only a phone call away."

"Do you have a Skype?" Rhuben questioned as she turned her head to look at him.

"No, but I'll get one." Logan promised. "Come on guys, this summer is going to be great, and before you know it, we're all going to be back here, in the Palm Woods, playing more pranks on Bitters." He put his arms around the twin girls' shoulders and they leaned into him. "I'm going to miss you guys."

"We're going to miss you too, Logie." Riley replied and messed up his hair. "Who are we going to tease for being wimpy and a math-"

"Don't say nerd." Logan warned, flicking the end of her nose.

"Enthusiast." Rhuben corrected her sister. "Photo Op." She held the camera high above her face and the three leaned into each other before she took the picture.

* * *

"So, did you guys finish clearing everything out?" Ronan asked that night at dinner as he scooped some spaghetti onto the six plates before sitting down, placing a napkin over his lap.

"Yeah," Sydney replied through a full mouth as he shoveled spaghetti into his mouth. "We have everything. We double and triple checked because we know that Patrick would forget something."

"I'm _telling _you," Patrick sounded exasperated as he swung his fork around, hitting Noah in the face with spaghetti sauce. "I know I'm forgetting something. I just can't remember what it is." Riley snorted from where she sat across from her brother.

"Maybe it's your brain." She cracked and burst out laughing, high-fiving her twin.

"Riley, be nice." Ronan chided and Riley rolled her eyes before sticking her tongue out at Patrick, who mimicked her and stuck his tongue out in reply. "So, you guys' flight leaves at 10PM tomorrow night. But I have something planned for you guys at 12 o'clock." A sly smile slid onto his face as he brushed his hair off of his forehead. Being middle aged (about 35) he had dark hair and grey eyes, but he didn't look a day older than 27. It surprised the Jacksons that he didn't have a girlfriend, but according to him, he was too busy to date.

"What is it?" Rhuben questioned, flipping her fork in her hand. "A photo shoot before we go?" she turned to Sydney. "Maybe we can do that High School Musical-esque jump that you've wanted to do for so long." Sydney nodded eagerly in reply.

"No, that's not it" Ronan replied as he shook his head, laughing a little bit.

"We get to test drive some cars?" Patrick asked. With that, he and Noah put their hands up in the air, as if they were gripping steering wheels and moved back and forth, making revving sounds. Ronan grabbed onto their arms and forced them back down onto the table.

"No, that's not it either." He gave them a funny look, as if he thought they were crazy. "Do you think I would let any of you drive a car without a license?"

"I have a permit." Rhuben pointed out and then jerked her thumb over at Riley. "And so does Riley, sort of. So we could drive a car."

"I was thinking of a For Fusion," Riley said to her sister, looking excited. "They're compact, safe, save a lot of money when it comes to gas and looks really great along with-"

"It's not a car!" Ronan sounded annoyed. "It took me a lot of negotiating with Gustavo, but I convinced him to let you guys 'start off your tour'" he used air quotes around the words before going back to his surprise. "And what you're going to do is that you're going to collaborate and perform one song with Big Time Rush."

"Really?' Noah's eyes got wide. "That's so cool! Do they know?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that by now Gustavo would have told-"Ronan sighed heavily as the Jacksons pushed their chairs back and raced towards the door. "Aren't you going to finish dinner first?" he called pointedly. The five of them froze at the door where they were, mentally trying to decide whether or not they should go. Ronan rolled his eyes and waved his hand. "Go on, I'll keep this warm for you."

"Thanks Ronan!" Rhuben shouted over her shoulder before throwing open the door and running out, her siblings running behind her.

"I should be thanking them," Ronan grinned as he went back to eating his food. "More food for me."

* * *

"James, seriously," Riley sighed heavily as she rested her head against the glass behind her. "It's not hard to do a body roll."

"Can you show me again?" he asked with a charming smile. Riley smirked back in reply.

"Nice try," she stated before getting to her feet and brushing off her hands and walked over to him. "All you have to do is stick out your chest and roll your body backwards at the same time." Kendall, who was watching the two of them, turned away and went back to stretching.

It was the next day, the same day that the DarkElements and Big Time Rush were going to be holding their small 'concert'. Although it only consisted of one song, they had been arguing for a while of what song they should perform, one of Big Time Rush's, one of DarkElements', or a cover song. Annoyed at that point, Rhuben just suggested that they go ahead and work out some choreography that would work to the beat of any song, even if you had to speed it up or slow it down and that's what they were doing at the time.

"Can we just decide what song we're doing?" Logan asked as he looked at his watch in a disgruntled way. "We only have, like an hour and a half left." He sighed. "And we've been working all day."

"That's plenty of time." Patrick muttered from where he was sitting in the corner, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

"Plenty of time for what?" Noah asked as he leaned over to look into his older brother's face. Patrick simply shrugged in reply.

"For panicking," Patrick replied as if he had just said that there was a light breeze outside. "I mean, there's no way that we're going to get this done without tearing each other's throats out, so we might as well give up."

"Are you always his negative?" Kendall asked as he wiped sweat off of his forehead. "Ok, so we might be having a little bit of trouble." He winced as Logan spun in a circle and tried to move into a forward step, but got so dizzy that he crashed into Carlos, sending the both of them to the ground. "Ok, we're having _a lot_ of trouble. But that doesn't mean that we can't work together to make this a really good performance."

"Wow," Sydney deadpanned, his mood being ruined by Patrick's negativity. "Were you actually expecting inspirational music to be playing behind you?"

"Actually, I kind of was," Kendall scratched the back of his head. "Where's Guitar Dude when you need him?"

"Trying to think of a word that rhymes with orange," Rhuben replied as she walked into the dance studio, a towel around her neck and a cup in her hands. "I keep trying to tell him there is one, and he said he's not going to stop until he finds one or until his brain explodes. My money is on his brain exploding."

"Can we _please_ take a break?" Carlos whined from the floor from when he and Logan fell over.

"Sure," Riley sighed in reply as she ran her hands over her forehead. "I don't think this is working." She added as she pulled her hair down from its ponytail and brushed it out. "Might as well gone home, I mean, we should each just do a song that we already know to get the crowd hyped." She shrugged. "Gotta make it count, right?"

Kendall smiled as the familiar lyrics started to play in his head. He opened his mouth as he started to sing. "Make it count, play it straight. Don't look back, don't hesitate."

"When you go Big Time." Carlos, Logan, and James sang the next line.

"Watcha want, Watcha feel, never quit, and make it real." Patrick and James sang.

"When you roll big time." Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney jumped into the song, smiling at each other.

"Hey! Hey!" Patrick and Noah sang.

"Listen to your heart now" Kendall sang as Carlos moved across the floor to stand by his friends.

"Hey! Hey!"

"Don't you feel the rush?" James sang.

"Hey! Hey!"

"Better take your shot now" Logan sang.

"Ohhhh Ohhhhh. Ohhhh Ohhhhh."

"C'mon shake it up! Watcha gotta lose? Go and make your luck with the life you choose. If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life ya got, so ya gotta live it big time." Everybody sang and then burst out laughing.

"You know, it would be cool if we all performed that song together," Sydney said as he twiddled his thumbs. "I mean, it _is_ the song that made us become friends. Because you helped us prove that it was our dad that stole the song and we knew nothing about it."

"That's a good idea!" Carlos declared gleefully before giving Sydney a high-five. "Let's get to work right now. You guys know the routine, right?"

"Yeah, there's not much to it," Rhuben replied slowly as if she was making sure she didn't offend the guys. "Just a bunch of walking around, jumping up and down, and a flip here and there. We have that covered. The hard part would be whether or not you could do the routine that we added onto it."

"Is it harder than the one that you were just trying to show us?" James asked and when Rhuben nodded he nodded back. "There's no way that's happening. If the stage is big enough, it shouldn't be hard to be able to do our moves in the back. Now, the timing might be a little off."

"And that's what the next hour and a half is for." Logan declared as he slung an arm around Carlos's shoulder and slapped him on the chest. "C'mon guys, we have a lot of work to do."

* * *

"So how do you think this is going to go?" Katie asked Jo as they, Camille, and Stephanie were standing near the front of the stage, wanting to give their friends support. "From what I had seen earlier today it wasn't going that great."

"Well, knowing Rhuben and how bossy Riley could be, I bet they whipped the guys into shape." Stephanie commented and laughed a little bit.

"Well, I guess we'll find out in-"Jo started to look at her watch but then was cut off as other audience members (that consisted of the families that lived in the Palm Woods and whoever Gustavo and Ronan had invited) started to cheer as the two bands went out on stage.

"As you know, this impromptu convert is to promote our tours that we're going on really soon," Kendall said into the microphone that he held up to his mouth before motioning to the Jacksons. "And we wouldn't have made friends with this band if they didn't have the same sense of humor that we did."

"When we first met their father had stolen a song from us," James explained. "And they didn't want to be known as a bunch of felons so they helped us prove that their father was the one that stole the song and that they didn't know anything about it."

"So as a homage to our friendship, we're going to perform that song." Carlos added.

"This is Big Time Rush." Logan concluded.

The audience clapped and cheered along as the two bands performed the song. It had taken a while, but they were able to get some of the stunts done correctly. The flip that James and Carlos helped Logan went smoothly and they were even able to lift him high off the ground as Noah did a series of back flips underneath him. With all of the energy and enthusiasm the bands put into the performance, it was easy to see that the two bands were excited about being able to do what they loved.

"Nice job, guys. That was amazing!" Camille grinned after the show as the two bands were sitting on the edge of the stage, talking to people and signing a few autographs. "It was a lot of fun."

"The fun's not over yet." Patrick replied with a mischievous expression on his face. "There's something else that we have planned," he motioned to himself and his brothers and sisters. "To celebrate our last night in LA for three months."

"What is it?" Stephanie asked eagerly.

"It's a surprise, but the only thing that I have to suggest that you bring with you is running shoes, a good attitude, and a big appetite." He replied and grinned.

* * *

"Camping was a good idea, guys." Logan beamed as he stuck his stick in the fire, trying to warm up his marshmallow.

"S'mores is just a good idea in general," Carlos declared as he shoved another into his mouth, his fingers already sticky with marshmallow fluff. "But what I didn't know is that there was a path up here to camp out by the Hollywood sign."

"That's because there isn't," Riley replied with an amused smile. "At least, not that I'm aware of anyway," She shrugged. "We found this up here once and come up here from time to time. And we thought that it would be a cool place to share with you guys."

"Better than any plan that I could come up with," Kendall admitted and the two smiled at each other before Riley asked Jo to pass her a graham cracker.

After the concert the Jacksons had grabbed a jumbo bag of jumbo marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers, and flashlights and got driven by taxis out towards the Hollywood sign. They hiked up the hill to get to the Hollywood sign and after having taken a bunch of pictures around it, they had built up a small fire and were now roasting marshmallows and eating S'mores.

"When is your guys' flight?" Katie asked as she licked melted chocolate off of her thumb.

"Uh in about an hour or so," Noah replied as he looked at his watch, pressing the button on the side to let the face glow.

"Aren't you going to be late if you don't get going now?" Jo asked. "Last time I had seen people wait to get on a plate, they were practically sprinting just to get to their plane." She giggled a little bit as the others laughed at the thought. "But it's probably the most hilarious thing to see."

"That actually happened to us once, but it wasn't our fault." Rhuben stated through a mouthful of S'more. "You see, the _stupid_ security people didn't believe that the inhaler that I was carrying in my pocket was in fact an inhaler. He thought that it was some sort of a case to carry cocaine or something. So by that time we were like, a minute late to our flight and had to run through the airport barefoot."

"Wasn't that the same time that we had to take picture after picture after picture _and_ give those stewardess autographs just so she would stop giving us juice?" Riley asked as he made a face. "Yeah, I remember that." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, guys, where are you going for your tour?"

"Mostly amusement parks and fairs," Logan replied as he squinted his eyes, deep in thought.

"Like Six Flags and stuff?" Camille asked as she shoved a marshmallow on her stick. The stick broke clean in half and James laughed before handing her his. "Thanks."

"Yeah, I think we're going to head home to get some clothes and stuff first," James replied. "But yeah, most of the places that we're going are amusement parks. We have some meet and greets and publicity stuff too. So that's going to be cool."

"Now, all you guys have to do is make sure that you don't let the fame go to your heads." Stephanie warned. "Especially when you have girls throwing themselves at you all the time." She giggled as James had a dreamy expression on his face, looking right into the fire.

"Too late," Carlos replied and tossed a handful of marshmallows around his friend.

"Hey, no horse play around the fire," Sydney warned. "I don't want any of you guys being set on fire."

"Not like it's going to matter," Rhuben commented, twirling a stick in her hands. "I mean, Logan probably brought along a first aid kit to make sure there's a cure for poison ivy, rattlesnake bites, bites in general, and burns." Everybody turned to look at him expectantly and he smiled sheepishly.

"I don't have anything for snakebites," He stated quietly. "But I _do_ have some stuff for ticks, cause you never know when they-"

"We get it." Patrick and Noah interrupted.

"So, where's the bathroom?" Carlos asked as he looked around. Riley handed him a flashlight and pointed off in a random direction. "You mean I have to go out here…where there's bears, and snakes, and-"

"If you're that worried I'll go with you," Patrick rolled his eyes. "I mean, we don't want you to disappear of anything." He added with a sweet smile as he grabbed another flashlight and went off with Carlos.

"You do know that in the next few seconds he's going to come running back over here, saying that something touched him when it's probably just some sort of plant." Kendall warned as he shook his head.

"Carlos is that much of a scaredy cat?" Noah questioned.

"You should see him on Halloween," James snorted. "He screams every time something moves and he sprints away from the house after he gets his candy, just to make sure that nothing gets to him."

"You still trick-or-treat on Halloween?" Jo questioned as if she didn't believe it.

"Dude, free candy." Rhuben pointed out and then gave James a high-five. "Who wouldn't want free candy and be able to scare the crap out of people?"

"Guys!"

"And what did I tell ya?" Kendall waved an arm in the air when he heard Carlos' yell. "And now Carlos is going to run back over saying that he was touched by somethi-"

"Patrick's gone!" Carlos screamed as he ran back up to his friends.

"That idiot," Noah sighed as if it happened all the time. "You guys may want to help. He has no sense of direction what so ever." He patted Carlos on the arm. "He probably just turned in the wrong direction to come back and got lost. C'mon."

Everybody else grabbed flashlights and followed Carlos to where he had last seen Patrick. Everybody shined their flashlights back and forth, calling out his name. "I don't see him." Logan frowned and turned back. "Maybe Carlos was right, maybe he _did_ disappear."

"Just keep looking; I'm sure we'll find him." Katie instructed.

"Getting a little worried there?" Kendall teased.

"Shut up."

Rhuben slowed down behind her siblings and turned her flashlight to the side, turning it on and off repeatedly for a few seconds before shining back in front of her. "Did you guys hear that?" she asked a second later.

"No, what?" Camille asked as she slowly moved behind James.

"I heard something over here," Rhuben replied and turned to look at Riley, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I heard it too." She agreed and motioned to Kendall. "Go check it out."

"Why me?" he demanded.

"Because we know that no one else would be dumb enough to do it." She replied and shoved him forward. Kendall rolled his eyes in reply and moved his flashlight over into the bushes. He looked around for a few seconds, not seeing anything and started to turn back towards the others. Suddenly something popped out of the bushes and screamed loudly, causing Kendall to scream, startling James, Camille, Jo, Logan, Carlos, Katie, and Stephanie to start screaming too.

Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney laughed hysterically, though. It took the others a couple of seconds to realize it, as Patrick moved out from the bushes, pulling his hood down and brushing leaves off of his hair. Everybody else slowly stopped screaming and looked at the Jacksons in confusion.

Rhuben finally stopped laughing long enough to catch her breath. "Wow, you guys should have seen your faces."

"It was a trick?" Katie demanded.

"Yeah, I thought about it a few minutes before we left." Patrick looked pleased with himself. "Even though it was a plan that could have easily gone wrong, it was so worth it to see the looks on your guys' faces."

"Told you I would get you back for the honey," Riley added with a huge grin.

"Yeah, well," Kendall looked at his hand, which was still covered in marshmallow fluff and looked at her evilly before taking a step towards her.

"Don't even think about it," she warned before turning and running back towards the camp, Kendall following her.

"Dude," Katie punched Patrick's arm, causing him to cry out in pain. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Yeah, I hadn't ever heard you scream that loud." Patrick teased back, earning another punch to his arm.

"Come on," Jo sighed and led the way back to the campsite.

"I got to admit," James whispered to the Jacksons. "That was really good."

"Thank you," Rhuben smiled back and looked at her watch. "Our flight leaves really soon so we should get going, but there's one last thing that we wanted to do." Back at the campsite she reached her bag and pulled out a can, shaking it in her hand.

"Is that spray paint?" Logan screeched, his eyes growing wide. "You're going to tag the Hollywood sign? Don't you know that's against the law?"

"Yes, I'm aware that I could quite possibly go to juvie over this," Rhuben replied sarcastically and then made a face. "Relax, I was only going to spray the back part of it, besides as we said before, no one ever comes up here and-"

"Hey! Who's up here?" a tough, authorities voice called.

"Then again, I could be wrong." Rhuben replied quickly and grabbed her bags. "Run!" Everybody scrambled around, trying to grab their things as Noah took the bucket of water and tossed it onto the fire. He then dropped the bucket and ran after everyone else as they sprinted off down the path to get back to the bottom of the hills.

* * *

"Promise to send us pictures of some of the cute Australian boys, alright?" Camille stated before giving Riley and Rhuben hugs.

"Of course," Rhuben replied as she rolled her eyes. "I mean, that's the only thing that we're going home for." She added sarcastically.

"Keep us updated with your acting," Riley added with a grin.

They were all at the airport as they had just run away from the cops that had come up to the Hollywood sign to see what the fire was coming from. At that time, they had found that it was really close for the Jacksons to catch their flight, so they had gotten taxis and rushed to the airport, getting through the terminal and to their gate in record time. So now they were saying their goodbyes to each other. The girls had just finished so now it was Big Time Rush's turn.

"Promise." Camille replied with a smile.

"I can't believe that you guys are leaving already." Logan said as he grabbed the two girls in a double hug before hugging them separately. "And we only just met each other again."

"Logie, relax, we're going to be gone for only three months." Riley stated as she hugged him before being let go.

"I know, just yesterday you were saying that we would be too busy to notice." Rhuben agreed as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. Logan chuckled in reply as he hugged her back, a little too long. "Uh, Logie, you can let go now."

"Oh! Sorry!" he blushed and let go, backing away a little bit and gave a charming smile. '_Geez Logan, why don't you just maul her to get your point across_' he thought to himself as he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He forced his smile to grow wider. "Have fun."

"You too," Rhuben agreed before looking over to see James giving Patrick and Noah hair tips before they left. She scoffed. "James, I don't think they need any more advice from you."

"You never know," James replied as he opened his arms for a hug. "I could make a fortune off of this."

"I'm sure you will." Rhuben stated with a hint of sarcasm before stepping into his arms and wrapping hers around his waist.

Riley had hugged Carlos, Katie, Logan, and James goodbye and that just left Kendall. "I'm sure the Palm Woods is going to be a little bit quieter now that we're leaving."

"No, I think there's still going to be a lot of chaos," Kendall replied as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Especially if we're still working with Gustavo." He paused. "And if Bitters is still trying to run us out of the Palm Woods. Yeah, I can say that there's still going to be a lot of chaos."

"That's good to know," Riley replied as she tilted her head to the side, a hint of a smile on her face. "Just know that whatever plan I come up will probably be better than yours."

"Right," Kendall replied shortly. "How long are you going to be gone again?"

"Three months."

"So that gives me time to make sure my plans are way better than yours." Kendall smiled smugly.

Riley pursed her lips as she held onto her carryon on bag tighter. "And who said that teenagers nowadays aren't rude?" she asked sarcastically.

Kendall shrugged in reply. "I didn't."

Riley laughed a little bit as she shook her head. She reached out and mussed Kendall's hair, making it fall into his face. "See ya, Hockey-Head."

She quickly gave Logan another hug before joining her siblings and Ronan as they went to board the plane. They briefly turned back to their friends before disappearing behind the door.

"C'mon guys," Kendall got his friends' attention. "We have a tour to go on ourselves." He turned around and led the way out of the airport.

**(The End) To Be Continued…**

**

* * *

****A/N: And that's the end of the story, and a bit of Kiley and Lella there for you. But fear not there is a sequel…AND IT'S UP NOW! Yeah, that's right **Don't Stop Believing_; _**the sequel to this story is up now. I posted the last chapter of this and the first chapter to the sequel at the same time so you didn't have to wait long. Thanks for reading my story, it's the first BTR multi-chapter story that I have finished. I hope you enjoyed t.**

**Read the sequel. Go. Now.**

**-Riley**


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